Stronghold
by Celesti Rivers
Summary: "People change, you know, and then you find you have less in common with old friends and more in common with the strangest people." Percy had built a tall wall around himself - a stronghold - and the only way it was going to come down was by crashing into someone else's soaring fortress. Perhaps, a collision was exactly what they both needed. Percy/Audrey.
1. Percy: Haunting Past

**I am _very_ excited to get this story started. I actually have it all planned out, which is quite unlike everything else in my life. Basically, the chapters are going to switch between third person limited to Percy and Audrey, until a _certain_ point (no spoilers!), after which the POVs will no longer be split.**

 **This chapter is a bit shorter than the future ones, as it is introductory to the status quo. Enjoy! :)**

 **Disclaimer: All the characters and plot of the _Harry Potter_ series belong to J.K. Rowling.**

* * *

 _1\. Percy: Haunting Past_

* * *

Fear always had a way of forcing people into thinking they had no choice but to surround themselves with impenetrable walls. Fear of the past. Fear of the future. Fear of the likely and unlikely. Fear of the unknown.

It was why Percy Weasley found himself in the Burrow one late July afternoon. Just like every other July, June, and May afternoon of that year.

Fear of the past was what truly haunted Percy.

"You know, I've heard that if you stare at a teacup long enough, the sheer force of your gaze will turn it into ten galleons."

Percy looked up and considered snapping at George to go away, as he usually did. He chose not to. It may have been out of curiosity, but mostly it was because he was tired of doing so.

George sat down next to him at the dinner table. "That's a joke, you know? You're supposed to laugh."

Percy only smiled lightly and gave a nod. He looked back down at the empty teacup.

"All right, fine, I'll ask it: what's on your mind, Perce? And let's keep it short. My attention span isn't all that great."

"It was all my fault, being the distracting git that I was." Percy hadn't meant to say that. His intention was just to not talk at all.

He concocted this strategy last week. Every time he talked, someone tried to cheer him up, or make him look on the bright side of things. He was sick of it. It was the same phrases each time, and they didn't work. So, Percy figured not saying anything at all would be for the best.

Clearly, that didn't work so well. At least he knew what to expect, and he mentally cringed in anticipation of it.

"A lot of things were your fault," George started. "Fred's death wasn't one of them."

Percy looked at George to see a solemn expression on his face. _That_ was certainly unexpected. Usually, George's strategies included some kind of prank, joke, or trick. He had never said anything so direct to Percy in the last three months. George's coping mechanism included pretending to be happy the vast majority of the time, and avoiding all talk of anything sad. In fact, Percy couldn't recall George talking about Fred at all that summer.

"You need to get back at it, Percy. Go back to work. Get a hobby. Do _something_. If you sit here any longer, I'm scared you'll start growing a beard."

And _there_ was the joke.

"I don't have any motivation to do anything," Percy said. That was a lie. It wasn't a lack of motivation–Percy had plenty of that–it was an excess of fear.

"No motivation? Really? Very well, then. You might as well say bollocks to Fred."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Percy exclaimed angrily.

"Fred was the first one to forgive you. Did you forget that? Pull yourself together, already, and prove him right."

"You know, it's still hard to look at you, George."

Silence fell between the two brothers. Suddenly, George said, "Well, mum said the same thing last week, so you're just as moody as her."

With that, George got up from his seat and stormed upstairs.

Percy had a nagging feeling that George was right. He had done very little since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts, as it was being called. Mostly, he had been at home, helping Molly with housework, reading, and brooding. Fred clearly believed in him, and he did owe it to him to start piecing his life back together.

Then again, Percy was scared. It wasn't that he didn't want to get back to work–it was what he wanted more than anything–but he _really_ didn't want to get back to old habits. Another part of Percy, albeit a frailer and less Gryffindor part of him, warned of what might happen should he return to work. Back to putting work before family. Back to being selfish. Back to forgetting the important things, and valuing the wealth of his Gringotts vault over the wealth of his family's love.

His mind was at odds with itself. He longed to return to things as they were. Ginny was starting Hogwarts again. George was back at the joke shop. The dust around him was settling. Yet, the stark difference remained: Ginny and George had not been absolute cowards for the last few years. Their pasts were unmarked by poor decisions, but Percy couldn't say the same.

Percy slid back his chair and placed his teacup in the sink. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of something bright red on the coat hanger in the corner. He approached it and recognized it as a Gryffindor scarf. Merlin knows who it belonged to. Not that it really mattered, considering they were all in the same house.

Percy took it off the coat hanger and held it in his hands. It was warm and fraying, but most of all, it reminded him of the place he called home for seven years.

 _Where dwell the brave at heart._

"Oh, is it yours?"

Percy turned around quickly to see Molly standing behind him. She was still pale, and any sign of a smile was slight. Fred's death had undoubtedly been hardest on Molly, and it only pained her further to see Percy's guilt diminishing every parcel of his soul.

"Honestly, I don't know," Percy answered. "Doesn't matter much."

"Well, do give it here, anyways. I've got to fix those fraying ends. Honestly, you boys tear up everything, and Ginny isn't much better."

Percy looked down at the wool scarf in his hands. Red and gold faded away by time, and yet they appeared to be bolder and brighter than ever. Percy handed the scarf to Molly.

"Mum, I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

Molly frowned lightly. "For what, dear?"

 _Yeah, Perce, for what? For being a coward, that's what, you prick_ _._

"Uh... I can't help you with the garden today. I've got some things to do, if you don't mind."

Molly's face brightened with the biggest smile Percy had seen in the last three months. "Oh, Percy, of course I don't mind."

With that, Percy stepped outside the Burrow and apparated away. He really did have plenty of work to catch up to.

* * *

 **Yay! Just a fair warning: while this is a Percy/Audrey story, it's also about Percy and Audrey piecing their lives back together and trying to figure out their lives.**

 **That being said, I should let you know in advance that I have a bit of a different (controversial, if you will) view of Audrey. There isn't any information on _anything_ about her, so I let my mind go crazy.**

 **All reviews and favourites are much appreciated :)**


	2. Audrey: Death of a Legacy

**I decided to post Audrey's introduction sooner than planned because the first two chapters are so short :P Hop you enjoy! Again, I promise of longer chapters ahead. Introductions are very hard to lengthen.**

 _ **This chapter was updated as of 4 August 2015**_

* * *

 _2\. Audrey: Death of a Legacy_

* * *

 _Pulchra et fortis_. Fair and mighty. It was a standard to live, breathe, and die by.

That was what was expected of a Callaghan.

At this point, Audrey had toured the perimeter of the estate three times. She was finding it much harder to leave the place than she had imagined. Each hedge, each fountain and well, each bench – they all screamed of her childhood and adolescence. They were hard sounds to ignore.

Childhood and adolescence. Two of the many other things that were ruthlessly torn from her grasp.

Her gaze skimmed across the ivy-covered, stone walls of the building. Her mother had always said that the first time she had visited the Callaghan Estate, she thought the place was far too gloomy for a pureblood family of Aurors. That being said, though, Audrey's grandfather had prepared her for disappointment. After the disappointment of her two older sisters, Grandpa Altair didn't expect any family better than the Callaghans to be interested in Audrey's mother.

"Not a sacred family, like ourselves, but at least," he had said, "they have ties to the Blacks, no matter how distant." As if that was worth all of the gold in the world.

Audrey finally reached the entrance of the estate. A wide gravel path lined with hedges and marked with the ridges and footsteps of many prominent names and faces. It connected the entrance to the large grey building and the green gates that used to hold the Callaghan crest. Upon being sold, the new owners ripped off the green, gold, and red crest of a roaring bear with the Latin motto boldly blazing beneath it. Audrey thanked them. It was only a painful reminder.

At the gate entrance, the real estate agent was waiting. If only she knew the things that went on in that house.

Audrey dropped the keys in the woman's waiting hands. "Sorry for taking so long."

The woman pursed her lips and gave Audrey a sour look. "Well, I guess I did say take your time."

"Thank you for the help. Don't forget to remind the new owners that the basement's been untouched since the eighteenth century." That was a lie. Her grandparents had used it for _very_ questionable purposes. In summary, the basement was a collection of prison-like cells that were commonly frequented by house elves. Something her mother made sure to stop the moment she married into the family.

"Hm," was the only answer the woman gave. She stalked off with her nose in the air.

Audrey rolled her eyes and followed the gravel path from the gates to the beach. It was the same path she used to take with her brother when they were younger and went swimming every day during summer break.

The sky was grey and threatening to collapse its contents onto the coastline, so it was no surprise to Audrey that there was only one blanket spread on the sand, with a bundled diminutive figure sitting on it. As Audrey made her way down to the shore, the strong wind blew her shoulder-length dark brown hair into her face. She used to get annoyed by the hair flying into her mouth due to the strong Irish winds. Now, with her departure imminent, she almost welcomed it.

Audrey walked up to the figure, Erin Donoghue, her closest friend since childhood. Erin was quite short, with a mess of blonde curls that Audrey could never remember being even the slightest bit neat, and pale skin that burned easily in the summer and blushed red at the cold. Erin had attended Beauxbatons, a decision that took years of arguments between her parents to be concluded. More often than not, their fights were an exchange of "Hogwarts is closer to home!" and " _You_ named 'er after your insufferable maman, so _I_ choose where she goes to school, and zats final!" Eventually, Genevieve Dumont - goodness forbid she change her name to something Irish - won the argument, but that didn't stop Malcolm Donoghue, or even Audrey, from writing countless letters to Erin in English, which was enough to keep her English-speaking skills up to par.

Needless to say, the girl still kissed people on the cheek to greet them.

Anyways, despite the physical distance between Audrey and Erin throughout their childhoods, the two were as close as sisters. Often, Audrey's brother Brady would joke that Erin was stealing his place. Now, when Audrey looked at her closest friend, Erin's blue eyes were filled with worry and sympathy as she passed Audrey an opened bottle of beer. Audrey sat down on the blanket next to her and took a sip.

"So, the deed is done?" Erin inquired.

"More like the deed has been given to a pair of muggles that don't know any better," Audrey replied quietly.

"You made a good decision. I couldn't imagine living in that house after... well, you made a good decision, is my point."

Audrey remained quiet and took another sip.

"You shouldn't be angry at your parents," Erin said. "They had to preserve the family legacy, and that was to remain neutral in all blood feuds. It was a very wise decision, if you ask me. There are some matters that you just shouldn't stick your nose in."

That felt like it was supposed to mean something, coming from someone with a muggle-born father, but Audrey couldn't quite take it to heart.

"Not wise enough. It got them killed."

"They got killed by an idiot, not because they made a poor decision. They were trying to protect you and Brady."

"I wish they fought against You-Know-Who. They always felt it was wrong. Shakespeare was right, you know. Nothing will come of nothing."

"Oh, stop it, will you? You have a lot to be thankful for."

"There's _nothing_ , Erin. Do you know what happens when I go to Diagon Alley? I get stares from all directions. My parents thought they were protecting the Callaghan legacy by not choosing a side, but they were only condemning it."

"Audrey. Stop feeling sorry for yourself already. Three years ago you wouldn't have given a care what anyone else thought of you. You're a pale shadow, you know."

"Much has changed in the last three years." That was certainly the truth. Yet, Audrey wondered if she was only using it as an excuse.

"Stop brooding. You were done a year of your Auror training when your parents pulled you into hiding. Go back to that!" Erin had a habit of being very commanding and figuring herself inspirational. Sometimes, it worked. Most times, it was idealistic.

"Yeah, I'm sure that the Ministry is looking for pureblood Slytherins that did nothing to fill their Auror ranks," Audrey replied sarcastically.

"Didn't you used to be an insufferable nénette that loved to prove people wrong?" Erin questioned. Her tone wasn't a joking one. It seethed with anger and disappointment, so much that it nearly made Audrey wince.

Silence weighed heavy between the two young women for a moment. Their arguments often went like this - they never truly ended. One of them would just say something that was obviously right, and that would be that. However, most other arguments before that hectic year concerned clothes, food, and boys. It was frightening to think that just two years ago Audrey was a seventh year student whose biggest problem was explaining to Umbridge that she had no desire to be part of her exclusive Slytherin club.

"Audrey, please, it kills me to see you so demoralized," Erin said quietly. "We're moving to London, together. We always dreamed of this. I can't do it if you're like this. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me."

"I'm sorry, Erin," Audrey said. "I don't know why I feel like this. I've always been ambitious and done just about anything to get my way. Now... I don't feel like doing anything. I'm scared that it's all in vain."

"It's _not_ , Audrey. Life goes on."

A cold breeze sent a shiver up Audrey's spine. Only Ireland saw cold in the middle of July. She nuzzled her face in the old green and silver scarf wrapped around her neck. That green had been her pride for seven years. Now, it was tarnished by elitist idiots.

 _Power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great ambition._ The words hit her like a cinder block.

"Life does go on, doesn't it?" Audrey said suddenly. She turned to Erin with a smile. "Better make sure we're going along with it."

* * *

 **So that's Audrey Callaghan! Please do review and give me your thoughts on my writing and my perception of Audrey. I know the common belief is that she's a muggle/muggleborn, but I always thought she'd be just as ambitious, if not more so, as Percy, and ambition = Slytherin.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Percy: The Settling Dust

**Here is chapter 3! :)**

 _ **This chapter was updated as of 8 June 2015.**_

* * *

 _3\. Percy: The Settling Dust_

* * *

There was something about stepping foot into the Ministry of Magic that gave Percy a sort of rush. It might have been it's sheer enormity, or the magnitude of power placed in one building.

Nevertheless, Percy was glad he was back. He needed to take risks in his life, and this was one of them. Besides, he was doing it with the full support of his family, and that was all the support he really needed. That was something he had failed to acknowledge the first time around.

Percy wove his way through the throng of witches and wizards and went to the main service desk. The line seemed to be infinite. He trailed along it until he found the end and took his place. The Ministry seemed more busy than he had ever seen it, and he had seen it in many different forms. Perhaps it was the numerous reforms taking shape, or the countless grievances and crimes so many in hiding had to report. You-Know-Who may have died four months ago, but there was still no shortage of wreckage to clear.

Of course, Percy could have talked to Arthur, a few words would be put in for him to Kingsley, and he wouldn't have to worry about all of this lining up business. He had the experience, and it's not like he was ever on You-Know-Who's side - he even fought against Thicknesse. However, the first try around at his career, Percy had not exactly been the best son or brother. He didn't want to get a job based on any of _that_.

Percy glanced behind him to see the line had extended even further. His eyes settled on the woman right behind him. Her pale skin was only blemished by freckles across her nose and cheeks and emphasized her youth. Dark brown hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail. Her features betrayed no emotion. Suddenly, her green eyes flickered and met Percy's blue ones.

"Sorry," Percy said instinctively. "I was just thinking about how long the line had gotten."

The woman scoffed. "Tell me about it. But I'll camp out here if I have to."

Percy laughed lightly at her determination. "I'm Percy."

"Audrey," she said in reply.

There was very little Percy could think to say. She was clearly lost in her own thoughts and Percy, knowing the feeling very well, didn't think it wise to disrupt her. She also held an air of aristocracy around her that he didn't even slightly wish to delve in. Nevertheless, Percy couldn't help but think that despite the fact that Audrey clearly oozed confidence, she was probably a harmless and considerate person.

Of course, he hardly knew her, and he was really just trying to pass the time in the queue.

"My goodness! Audrey Callaghan, is that you?"

Percy instinctively turned his head to glance at the woman. Her features now showed emotion, and it was a mix of anger and frustration. Her pale skin was turning into a shade of pink. She didn't turn to her name being called.

"It really has been a while since I've seen the friendly freckled face of a Callaghan."

Finally, Percy looked to see who was calling the woman and quickly recognized the person. It was Daphne Greengrass. She was a Slytherin in her time at Hogwarts, and the Greengrass family was one of the oldest wizarding families. They were strongly rooted in the standards of pureblood supremacy. _There goes harmless and considerate_ , Percy thought. It wasn't like him to assume the worst in people, but people like Daphne Greengrass had a very limited friend group, so he really couldn't help it.

"Daphne. What a pleasure."

"Oh, darling, the pleasure's all mine," Daphne said airly. Then she moved closer to Audrey and said in a lowered voice, "You know, others judge you for not choosing sides, but the Malfoys weren't much better, now were they?"

"I didn't choose to not choose sides."

Percy found the answer peculiar. The "sides" in question were obvious - You-Know-Who or not killing half of Britain's witches and wizards. The conversation was intriguing, to say the least. Percy chided himself for eavesdropping. Honestly, George was rubbing off on him far too much.

After that, Daphne stepped closer to Audrey and the rest of the conversation was hushed. Soon after, Daphne Greengrass went on her way. Percy glanced back one last time to see Audrey standing with her arms crossed and her face glowing red. Percy wasn't sure if it was out of anger or embarrassment.

After that, the queue seemed to be moving much faster, possibly because more attendants had arrived at the service desk. Regardless of the reason, he was glad the line was moving quickly. Percy wanted nothing more but to omit the entire scenario that had unfolded near him from his mind. It was strange, mysterious, and not worth his time. Sure, he was curious, but he thought it best to leave it alone. Elite pureblood families had their own problems to solve, and he wasn't about to get involved in it.

Soon enough, Percy was on his way to submit his application for a clerical job. If he was going to start his career all over again, that meant taking administrative and assisting jobs all over the Ministry. It would be tiring, but it would pay off.

Once he arrived at the dispatch floor for assistants, he approached the woman at the desk accepting applications. He handed her the envelope with his application.

"Percy Weasley," he said.

"Wonderful," she said cheerily. "What a tragedy it was, by the way."

"Pardon me?

"Oh, your brother. Really, my condolences," she said sweetly. "Are you sure you're ready to take on this workload?"

The question angered Percy, for some reason. Here he was, finally picking up the courage to move on and make something of his life, and someone was questioning if he was ready. Courage wasn't about readiness. It was about doing, no matter what.

"Yes. I wouldn't be here otherwise, know would I?" Percy answered sharply. He hadn't meant to sound so rude.

The sickeningly sweet smile dropped off the woman's face. "Right. Of course. We'll consider your application. Thank you, and good day."

Percy only nodded in reply and turned to leave.

* * *

"Ah, welcome home! Hope the real world wasn't too overwhelming for you, Perce."

"Funny," was Percy's only reply to Ron's quip.

"There's food on the table, Percy!" he heard Molly shout from upstairs.

Percy decided to leave it. In that moment, there was only one thing he wanted to do. He exited the house and walked up a small path to a run-down wooden shed with a large door. The door was open, revealing Percy's father, Arthur, at a work table tinkering with some muggle gadgets. His hands and face were smeared with oil and grease. A smile broke out on his face when he saw Percy waiting at the entrance.

"Come in! How'd it go today?" Arthur asked.

"It was all right. The Ministry is really crowded," Percy answered.

Ever since he had moved back in the Burrow, Percy enjoyed spending time and talking with his dad. When he was younger, he used to think his father was too weak-willed and not ambitious enough. He never looked up to him. Now, in the past few months, Percy realized he had been very wrong. Arthur was hardworking, goodnatured, and fair. A work ethic similar to Percy's.

"I'm glad you've decided to get back to work," Arthur said proudly. "I was always so proud of how hardworking you are."

Percy didn't say anything.

"We always loved you, Percy," Arthur said quietly, placing a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Please know that."

"I know," Percy said. "I just feel like a fool for losing all that time with Fred. It's what's been keeping me back from getting back to normal. What if my old habits come back?"

"Percy, you are my son. And you are so, so bright. I could never imagine that happening," Arthur encouraged. "Don't let this guilt you and prevent you from living your life. You know Fred wouldn't have wanted that."

"Yeah, of course, I do," Percy replied. "It's just hard to remember sometimes."

Arthur smiled at his son. "Well, you're doing fine so far."

"Thanks, Dad," Percy said, smiling back. "Well, I'm going out again. Thought I'd meet up with Oliver. It's been a while since we last talked."

* * *

Upon simply entering the Puddlemere quidditch pitch, Percy felt his stomach somersault a few times.

There was something about flying on a broom that just did not make Percy feel at ease. He had never been able to take a good grasp of quidditch, like his brothers and sister, mostly because the teetering feeling of sitting on a broomstick drove him crazy.

Honestly, they should at least have cushions, or something.

"Percy!"

Percy looked up and searched for the source of the voice calling his name. He saw Oliver making his way up the stands to join him, with a water bottle in one hand and a broomstick in the other. It was a wonder the two of them had ever gotten along, considering that they were so starkly different. And yet, they had both been supporting each others' dreams since first year, right up until Percy started to lose sight of the important things in life.

"You know, it's a funny thing," Oliver started, a bit out of breath, "I ran into another former Hogwarts student today."

"Really? What a coincidence."

"Yeah, she looked even more frazzled than you do," Oliver added with a laugh. He gave Percy a strong pat on the back. "Loosen up, mate. It's really noticeable."

"Well, it's not like I'm not trying to," Percy grumbled. Perhaps the grumbling wasn't really helping his cause.

"Then don't try so hard. Maybe you need to take a short flight. That always helps."

"Please, Oliver," Percy said, almost laughing. "You know better than anyone that I can't stay on a broom for more than five seconds straight."

"Funny. You're the second person to tell me that today."

"You know, it's not an uncommon sentiment," Percy said. "Not everyone has the stomach for balancing their bottom on a flimsy piece of wood."

"Yeah, well, not everyone has the stomach for sitting around doing paperwork all day," Oliver shot back.

"Fair enough."

"I'm glad you sent an owl, Percy," Oliver said, changing the subject. "It's been hectic these past few months, trying to figure out who's fine and who's not. You know, just yesterday, one of our players that was thought to be dead walked into the locker room! He had been chased by Death Eaters all over the Great Britain for the entire summer."

"It's as if the whole ordeal only ended yesterday," Percy said in agreement. "The Ministry is overflowing every day with people. I don't think the Wizengamot's ever been this busy."

"It makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Oliver asked.

"How long it's going to take to piece everything back together?"

"Well, yes. But mostly, how much a few idiots can damage an entire world," Oliver said gloomily. "And to think that they didn't even get their way."

"Right, you are," Percy muttered. "I guess we all do our part."

Oliver smiled. "All right, enough with the gloomy talk! Let's go get some butterbeers."

* * *

 **So, Percy and Audrey have officially met, but they don't seem all too impressed with each other...**

 **All reviews and favourites are much appreciated :D**


	4. Audrey: Faces and Names

**Holla to chapter 4 :)**

 _ **This chapter was updated as of 7 August 2015.**_

* * *

 _4\. Audrey: Faces and Names_

* * *

Audrey had never seen so many people squeezed into one place.

The Ministry seemed to be bursting at the seams with witches, wizards, Squibs, elves, and many more members of the Wizarding World. It was as if the place was still a war zone, completely immune to the fact that the threat had long disappeared. The Floo Networks were perpetually glowing green. The sound of clicking heels and chatter reverberated and etched themselves into the walls.

Another sound that soon joined in was that of the bouncing vibrations of Audrey's heart plummeting to the ground as she saw the length of the queue for the main service desk.

 _I will not be turned away by a long wait_ , Audrey chided herself. She walked along the queue until she reached the end, and took her place.

The constant noise was starting to give Audrey a headache. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. She thought of simple silence. It was a poor attempt, and hardly worked, but Audrey mentally patted herself on the back for trying.

Giving up on tuning out the hectic environment, Audrey's eyes skimmed over the large, crowded room until finally they landed on the person in front of her. Audrey blinked in surprise to find him already staring at her. He had red curly hair and a freckled face that seemed to only be able to hold a look of kindness. It made it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

The conversation with the man in front of her blurred in Audrey's mind, but once he introduced himself, she finally was able to put a name to his face.

 _Of course_ , Audrey thought to herself _, Percy Weasley. Now I remember._

That was when it dawned on Audrey that _he_ did not recognize _her_. This was a change from the usual scathing looks she had been receiving, and Audrey was glad for it.

And yet, she felt no desire to talk to him, so she gave him a curt introduction of her own name and attempted to muster a stony and uninviting expression.

With that, the man lightly nodded and turned to face ahead. As much as Audrey longed to talk to someone without them constantly thinking in the back of their minds that she was a horrible person, it felt wrong to take advantage of someone's lack of knowledge just to make herself feel better. It simply lacked honour.

Besides, as much as she remembered of Percy Weasley, he was a bit of a prat. He had been a prefect and Head Boy, and in his time with those titles, he made every attempt to ensure that everyone knew he possessed them. Perhaps he wasn't someone she wished to talk to, anyways.

"My goodness! Audrey Callaghan, is that you?"

Audrey cringed. _Oh, Merlin, please don't._

But of course, he did.

"It really has been a while since I've seen the friendly freckled face of a Callaghan."

Audrey sighed. There was no way she could get out of this one. She turned to see the smiling face of Daphne Greengrass. Although she was two years younger than Audrey, Daphne always walked, talked, and took every breath with an air of aristocracy and maturity. The Callaghan and Greengrass families had gotten along for some time, so Audrey had known Daphne and her younger sister Astoria since before they had started attending Hogwarts. Needless to say, they were hardly acquaintances. Of course, Audrey's "blood status" was enough to make Daphne act otherwise, especially in these times, when one would grab on to whatever tether they could find.

Daphne's rambling was as Audrey had expected of her: contrived cordiality with just a touch of gossip. Audrey tried her best to not start a shouting match with Daphne about how bigoted she was and kept her replies curt and unfriendly. However, soon enough, their conversation lost some contrived cordiality and gained some gossip.

The younger girl's airy smile had melted off her face, replaced by a look of disappointment and embarrassment. A biting reply was on her lips, but instead, she took yet another step closer to Audrey and quietly asked, "I've been hearing rumours that you sold the estate. But that's not true, is it?"

"It is," Audrey replied.

Who knew that the pureblood social circle had so quickly discovered of the sale of the Callaghan Estate? Last Audrey had checked, the Callaghans' exclusion from the Sacred Twenty-Eight was enough to make the holier-than-thou families grimace their way. The Greengrasses were of the few number of the included pureblood families that had maintained relations with the Callaghans.

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly flattering that they were all gossiping about her.

"Audrey!" she gasped. "That's one of the oldest pureblood estates in Ireland, and you _sold_ it? To _muggles_?" Daphne looked just about ready to implode.

"Daphne, my parents were _murdered_ in that house," Audrey said, seething with anger. "I want nothing to do with any of the pureblood traditions. Look what good it did me. I have _nothing_."

"You _had_ an estate, and you gave it away at your own accord," Daphne bit back.

"I don't want a bleeding house, I want my _family_ ," Audrey hissed. "Is that really so hard to understand?"

"Well. We certainly have different perspectives on the matter."

With that, Daphne went on her way, her nose sticking up in the air. Audrey crossed her arms and tried to calm herself down. She could feel the redness in her face, a result of anger at Daphne's superior attitude and embarrassment that she had been forced into a discussion on that godforsaken estate.

And then there was the matter of the formerly clueless man standing in front of her. Although she did not wish to take advantage of Percy's poor memory (or observation - she wasn't sure which one), it was nice for Audrey to know that at least one person in London didn't have something against the Callaghans. Now, it was highly unlikely that that was true.

The line moved faster after that, and Audrey was thankful for it. She wanted to forget her whole encounter with Daphne.

Once she arrived at the main service desk, she asked, "Auror training enrolment?"

The attendant didn't even looked up as she answered, "Level two. See Auror Halloway."

Audrey nodded in thanks and went on her way, weaving through the mass of witches and wizards until she arrived at the elevator.

Finally, after a cramped and stomach-jerking ride, she arrived at level two of the Ministry. Audrey strode through the dimly lit and suffocatingly crowded halls until she reached the Auror Office. She skimmed the names on doors, then stopped in front of one with golden lettering spelling the name _HALLOWAY_.

Audrey raised her hand to knock, but the door swung open before she got the chance. A man was standing behind a large cluttered desk. He motioned at the chairs on the other side of the desk, and Audrey took that as an invitation to come in. She refused to sit, and simply handed him the envelope with her credentials and application to resume Auror training.

The man, who Audrey assumed was Auror Halloway, grabbed the envelope and slid out the main page. He raised an eyebrow.

"So, you wish to join the stream of trainees in year two?" he asked coldly, still reading the form.

"Yes," Audrey answered. "I finished year one, then it got disrupted by... well, it got disrupted."

"I see that," he said. Suddenly, he looked up and met Audrey's eyes. There was a cold and shrewd appearance to his face that made Audrey feel uneasy. "And you think you're ready for this commitment."

It sounded like a statement, not a question, but Audrey decided to answer anyways. "I'm hardworking, I'm talented, and I'm determined. What more do you expect from an Auror?"

Halloway narrowed his eyes at her. "Honour."

Audrey felt the same anger that she had felt with Daphne overcome her, although she wasn't sure why. She wasn't exactly surprised by Halloway's reaction. The Callaghans had long been a family of Aurors - ever since the establishment of the Auror Office - but after the persecution they received after the Global Wizarding War, the Irish family had changed directions.

After a shameful exclusion from the Sacred Twenty-Eight and after the Callaghan patriarch at the time had put away a good number of purebloods known to have conspired with Grindelwald, the Callaghans opted for neutrality so they could preserve what few pureblood family connections they still had. During both Wizarding Wars, all of the Aurors in the family - training or otherwise - temporarily resigned from their posts. Of course, no one could suspect them of siding with Voldemort, considering that the Callaghans would dutifully offer to confess their innocence under Veritaserum.

But that didn't stop people from talking.

Audrey stifled her anger and said, "I prefer explicit discussion, sir."

"Oh, I think I'm being very explicit," Halloway said. He slid the papers back into the envelope and dropped it clumsily on his desk. "We'll consider your application to resume Auror training."

Audrey gave a nod, then turned to exit the office, muttering under her breath, "I sure hope so."

* * *

Audrey stepped onto the streets of London and let out a sigh of relief. She was glad to be out of that crowded, imposing place.

As she turned to walk the short distance to the flat she was staying in, Audrey immediately bumped into a towering body. She nearly tumbled to the ground, but a pair of hands grasped her wrists and steadied her. As the hands let her go, Audrey looked up to see a young man standing in front of her with a smile on his face.

"Blimey, I'm sorry," she apologized. "It's been a rough day."

"No apologies necessary," the man said, still smiling. Audrey couldn't help but think that she'd at least look irked if some clumsy woman stumbled into her. "Hey, you look familiar."

"Goodness, I hope not," Audrey said quietly. She hoped it was quiet enough that he didn't hear her.

Suddenly, the man took a step closer to her and whispered, "Did you go to Hogwarts?"

Audrey sighed. "Yes," she replied tiredly. Then, she realized that this man, like Percy, also didn't recognize her. Now, she just had to cross her fingers that a former Slytherin wouldn't walk past and strike up a conversation with her. "I finished two years before... well, I finished two years ago."

The man stepped back and said, "Right. Touchy subject matter. Did you play quidditch?"

"Goodness, no," Audrey answered. "I can't stay on a broom for more than five seconds straight."

"Ah, that explains why I can't recall your name."

"Callaghan. I mean Audrey. Audrey Callaghan," Audrey stumbled. _Should've left out the Callaghan part_ , Audrey scolded herself.

However, the young man showed no reaction. "Oliver Wood," he replied. "It's nice to still see familiar faces."

The two smiled at each other and then went their separate ways. Audrey congratulated herself on how smoothly that went. If only every conversation with past Hogwarts students could flow so easily.

Finally, Audrey reached the front steps of her building. She walked up the third floor, each wooden step squeaking under her weight, stuck her key in the door with the poor paint job, and walked in the flat to be greeted by boxes and many objects whizzing and floating around. Erin had an interesting notion of unpacking.

Suddenly, the blonde girl peeked her head from a doorway. "Did you kill anyone?" she asked emphatically.

Audrey rolled her eyes. "No." _Obviously._

"Then it was a success!"

Erin also had an interesting notion of success.

"There's tea on the dining table, if you want. We'll have to do with fast food for tonight," Erin shouted from a room.

"Why's that?" Audrey asked, pouring herself a cup of tea.

There was no reply.

"Erin?"

"Oh, sod it all! I broke the stove! I'm sorry!"

Audrey sighed. "Remind me never to leave you alone again. Honestly, you're like a child."

* * *

 **Wooow, who saw the Audrey and Oliver interaction coming? Probably all of you because you're a bunch of smarty pants.**

 **Stay tuned :)**


	5. Percy: Forgotten Emotions

**Getting some drama going on here ;)**

 _ **This chapter was updated as of 5 August 2015.**_

* * *

 _5\. Percy: Forgotten Emotions_

* * *

"Keep it moving, Weasley! You've got to get things done faster than this!"

"Right, sorry, sir!"

Work was stressful and seemingly infinite. It wasn't that Percy hadn't been expecting this, but it was to a greater extent than he first thought. When the work seemed to be too much and he was starting to lag behind in his duties, he thought it was because of his lack of practice. Time off work could really damage one's skills. However, as he continued to work, and the duties kept evading his grasp, he began to realize that it might not have been his fault. There was just _more_ work than there used to be. Never in his time at the Ministry had he ever had so many papers to go through, among many other things.

As the end of the day neared, there was nothing Percy wanted more than to just go home.

That, he noticed, was a major difference from before the war. He hardly ever wanted to leave work, in those days, and he was annoyed by the mere thought of spending more time than necessary around his family. _Maybe I just wasn't being worked hard enough_ , Percy thought jokingly.

He dropped the last soaring stack of papers on the last desk of the day with a sense of satisfaction and exhaustion. Work had never felt like this before, but he was glad it did. It gave him both a reason to go home and come back the next day.

The wizard behind the desk looked up at Percy over his spectacles. "Is that the last of them, Weasley?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well. Head on home."

And Percy gladly did. For the first time in a while, he was ecstatic to leave work and be with his family.

* * *

The first thing Percy wanted to do when he got home was sit down with a cup of tea.

This was the task he determinedly set out to do as he stepped through the front door of the Burrow. The stifling warmth of the house practically slapped him in the face–a common side effect of summer at the Burrow–but it was hardly enough to put a damper on how well his day had gone. Percy summoned a cup of tea, which followed behind him as he headed to the living area to drop into one of those comfy–

 _Crash._

Percy's Summoning Spell faltered as his focus was broken, and the teacup shattered to the floor. This was _definitely_ putting a damper on his successful day.

"What's going on?" he demanded, anger seething in his tone.

There, standing in front him with a cup of tea in her hand, was Penelope Clearwater. The same curly blonde hair, the same questioning blue eyes, the same Penny. George was next to her, sitting in an armchair. The smile on his brother's face faltered. Penelope paled at Percy's reaction. Her blue eyes widened, and her knuckles whitened as she held on to the teacup a little tighter.

"Well, Percy," George started, "I'm glad you – "

" _You_ invited her?" Percy demanded.

"Well – "

"No! No, he didn't," Penelope interrupted. "I came, and he was nice enough to offer me tea until you came home."

Silence filled the room as Percy stared angrily at Penelope. "Why?"

"We need to talk, I think," Penelope answered quietly. "I've been worried about you, lately."

"I can't do this right now, it's been a long day."

"Please, at least let me express my condolences for Fred."

"Maybe you should go."

The words did not come from Percy, but from George, who had shot up from his armchair at lightning speed at the mention of his twin brother's name. His face was going red, his brow furrowed, and for the first time that he could remember, Percy saw his younger brother's eyes glisten with tears. Percy hadn't realized, until that point, exactly how torn to pieces he was. George often joked and was even there for Molly when she had her bout of tears, so no one ever thought to console him. Of course, Percy imagined he was probably facing an enormous inner turmoil of his own, but not having seen it before made it difficult to believe.

"Yes, of course, I apologize," Penelope muttered, then apparated away.

George and Percy were left alone in the living area. Silence filled the air between them, but it seemed to Percy that the silence itself was whispering.

Suddenly, George said, "I don't talk to anyone else except the family about Fred."

"Blimey, George, you don't even talk to the family about it," Percy said. "You just try to support us all because you think it's your job to be the happy one. You lost your other half, you twit."

"You're one to talk," George said with a scoff. "We're the only people you talk to, Percy. I mean, sure, we love you, and don't get sick of you, but there's more than just family."

"I talk to Oliver Wood."

"And that you should be doing!" George exclaimed. "He was your closest friend at Hogwarts. The two of you had a way of being obsessed about your futures that drove all of us mad. I'd give you a good smack upside the head if you _didn't_ talk to him."

Percy couldn't argue with that logic. While everyone else was too busy making fun of him for being so studious and hard-working, Oliver was the only one that understood his ambition. Of course, for him, it was directed towards quidditch, but the sentiment was the same.

"Yeah, and what about you?" Percy demanded. "It wasn't just you and Fred. What about Lee? Angelina?"

"I'm not going to burden them with my problems."

"Yeah, and only burdening yourself is a mighty good idea."

George avoided his gaze, probably because he knew Percy was right.

"It's not the same when you talk to us, you know," Percy continued. "We're all suffering just as much and already carrying the same load. As uncomfortable as I was with Penny here, she _was_ only trying to be nice."

"I know. I guess you're right," George said quietly. "So, you want to tell me why you recoiled so much when you saw her? You better have a good reason, or you'll just look like a bloody hypocrite."

Percy sighed. "When she left me, it was because I was getting too involved in my work. She said I'd lost sight of the important things."

"Well, it's not like she was that far off."

"She didn't stay and try to help me see reason, like someone that loves you is actually supposed to," Percy continued, his voice steady. His heart, on the other hand, was racing just thinking about that last argument he had with Penelope. "That's what all of you did. But Penny? She just left. I don't know. I keep thinking that maybe if she stayed, I would have listened to her and... and come home sooner. But I guess that's a shot in the dark."

He was seething with anger and, strangely, hurting. He was hurting for all of the times he forgot to hurt, and it felt like his heart was being squeezed by ruthless hands. He had never felt so at loss for air. It was an overwhelming storm of emotions that he had never even acknowledged before. In a way, Penelope's appearance was a blessing in disguise. Percy never knew he felt so crushed by their separation.

In retrospect, Percy didn't think that there was ever much between the two of them - the relationship itself was formed out of a desire to be held and admired by someone else - and so there was no reason to be so broken up over the matter. And yet, Percy still felt weakened by the blow of its termination. He figured that he was feeling all these new emotions because it was a sign that he was not good enough to receive attention from someone that wasn't obligated to give it.

"Fair enough. I guess that's a pretty good reason," George admitted. "You're not off the hook, though, you know? If I'm going to be doing this piecing my life back together thing, so will you."

"It's a deal," Percy said. Unfortunately, it was one that would be quite difficult for both brothers to keep.

Suddenly, George walked up to him and wrapped his arms around Percy. Surprised, Percy slowly hugged his younger brother back.

"It's nice to know you have feelings, Perce."

"It's nice to know you give a damn, George."

"What are you boys doing, shouting about and – oh, good heavens!"

The two brothers stepped back and saw their mother standing in the doorway to the kitchen with her hand over her chest and her jaw dropped in shock.

"I can't remember the last time I saw the two of you hugging!" she exclaimed. "Oh, goodness!"

And with that, she barrelled towards and enveloped the both of them in her arms.

"You've got a hell of a grip, mum," George managed to squeak out.

Molly stepped back and wiped the tears from her face. "Oh, I'm just so happy to see the two of you getting along. Finally! But please do clean up that teacup."

* * *

The warm August wind was thick and stifling. The sun only made it that much worse. August in London was like being suffocated by an invisible foe.

"It's nice to see some colour in your face, Perce."

Percy turned his head to look at Ginny standing next to him. He had offered to take her to Diagon Alley to buy all of her necessary school supplies for a proper sixth year. She had been apprehensive when he offered, but Percy tried not to let it make him feel too bad. After all, her hesitation wasn't without reason.

Percy smiled. "I think it's because I'm getting a sunburn."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean," she grumbled. "You're laughing more often, too. And making jokes. Things I fear you learned from George."

"Well, it was bound to happen, I suppose," Percy said.

"Speaking of George," Ginny started, "he told me about Penelope."

Percy's smile disappeared. "He shouldn't have."

Ginny sighed. "I am partially to blame, in that scenario," she said quietly. "I _may_ have sent her a letter suggesting to come pay a visit sometime."

"Why would you do that?" Percy asked, his tone a bit too harsh.

" _Why?_ Remember when I was in first year? Big, whole mess where I was possessed by a diary," Ginny started. "While everyone else was too busy being scared senseless to notice, I happened to walk in on a certain older brother snogging a certain Ravenclaw in an empty classroom."

"Ginny, this is not the time - "

"To remind you that you actually _liked_ someone, back in the day?" Ginny interrupted. "And that I kept that little secret of yours from Fred and George for _quite_ a long time, might I add. Sue me if I tried to bring back someone that I thought would make you _happy_."

"Ginny, honestly, keep your nose out of people's business," Percy scolded, then added more softly, "But I guess it was well-intended, and you had no way of knowing how we broke up. You did what you thought was best."

"Well, thanks for your apology, because you've really got to get your love life going, mate."

Percy rolled his eyes but decided not to point out that he didn't apologize. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Ginny's stubbornness. "It's not a priority."

"Fine. Be stubborn. Die alone, for all I care."

"Love you too, Ginny."

Ginny smiled and scanned the streets of Diagon Alley. "So, where to next?"

"I think we're deserving of some ice cream, don't you?" Percy proposed.

"Great minds think alike!" Ginny exclaimed happily.

Percy and Ginny stepped out from the shade of the awning hanging from Flourish and Blotts with their sights set on Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. That was when Percy caught a glimpse of wands being pulled from cloaks. He could feel the blood draining from his face as the scene in front of him began to unfold.

"Take cover!"

* * *

 **Yes, I am very evil for leaving you with a cliffhanger, but that's life, amigos. Sometimes, you just don't know what's going to happen.**

 **Thank you to all that review and favourite! :)**


	6. Audrey: The Enemy's Visage

**For some reason, I'm always more excited to write Audrey chapters :P**

 _ **This chapter was updated as of 6 July 2015.**_

* * *

 _6\. Audrey: The Enemy's Visage_

* * *

Audrey had forgotten how amazing duelling made her feel.

It was something she soon remembered as she stepped into her first day back to Auror training, one early August morning.

All of the trainees were lined up along a wall. Audrey stood tall amongst them. She remembered now why she had always wanted to be an Auror. There was a certain pride in fighting to protect, as opposed to just fighting, or fighting to kill, or fighting for selfish reasons. It was a noble job. It was the same occupation her father held for quite some time.

Halloway paced in front of the line of trainees. Behind him stood the Aurors that had a higher seniority and experience. Some had smirks on their faces, clearly amused by the poor quality of potential Aurors presented to them.

"Some of you have had long, relaxing summers," Halloway said in a booming voice, his tone bordering on sarcasm. Obviously, no one had been able to take advantage of the one month break in the summer between training years. "I'm looking to erase all memory of that. Find a partner and line up across from each other. _Now!_ "

Trainees rushed to grab onto someone and line up as Halloway had instructed. He continued to emit the same aura of cold shrewdness that he had the day Audrey first met him. It was probably the reason everyone's eyes were filled with fear and urgency to do as they were told. Then again, fear wasn't always the best leadership tactic. One only needed to search very recent history to see that.

Soon enough, Audrey found herself lined up in front of a young man. His features were sharp and when Audrey met his eyes, she recognized him from Hogwarts. Something Fawley, Audrey believed. She didn't feel like putting in the energy to recall his first name.

He seemed to recognize her as well, judging by his change in demeanour. His eyes widened and nostrils flared. That was never good, in Audrey's personal experience.

"I assume you are all _very_ poor of practice," Halloway shouted. "Practice throwing hexes and jinxes, and deflecting them. Do take turns. I wouldn't want any of you to hurt yourselves so soon. It would be a _waste_ of St. Mungo's resources." The emphasis he placed on the word 'waste' suggested he saw them all as little more than that – pure rubbish.

Without warning, the man Audrey was paired with decided to take the first throw. Audrey easily deflected his jinx, and followed it with one of her own. They traded off like this for a while. Audrey kept herself calm and composed. It was a trick her father taught her when he was practicing duelling with a friend. Audrey was young then, not even enrolled in Hogwarts, and her father had allowed her to witness a 'proper duel' as he called it, against her mother's wishes. It was their little secret, of course.

Audrey never forgot what he told her that day. _Always keep your mind clear, no matter what happens._

Her partner clearly had not experienced the same advice. With each throw he became more frustrated, until finally, he did what Audrey had expected him to do.

Her partner threw a jinx, and as Audrey was deflecting it, he started another. Audrey found herself with insufficient time to deflect the second one, so she arched herself sideways to avoid the path of the spell. As Audrey was avoiding the jinx, she threw one of her own, catching the man off guard and throwing him backwards.

After that, duelling soon wrapped up. Halloway started calling names and performance grades.

"Audrey Callaghan. Bare pass!"

Anger surged through Audrey like a rushing river. As much as she recognized that he was purposely trying to irritate her, she could not stifle her indignation any longer. What was the point of adding the "bare," anyways? She walked up to Halloway. " _Bare_ pass?" she asked. "What's that supposed to mean? I deflected everything thrown at me."

" _Barely_. You missed one."

Audrey realized what he was referring to. "No, I dodged it. That was kind of the point."

"The _point_ , Callaghan, was deflection, which you failed to do," Halloway shouted angrily. "However, I acknowledge your perception of the hazard. Bare pass."

"Well, a criminal isn't going to give a bloody damn about deflection! I dodged it, didn't I? And all my other deflections were perfect."

"You passed, Callaghan. Move on."

And Audrey should have moved on, except it simply wasn't in her nature. Audrey had always had a strong desire to be the best and outperform in everything she did, and the pursuit of this desire was driven by the ambition of a Slytherin – something that was both a blessing and curse, if she was to be perfectly honest. So, naturally, when faced with an inadequate outcome, Audrey was anything but pleased.

"I'm better than a pass," she seethed. "I'm damn near perfect."

"'Near' being the key word," Halloway snapped in reply. "Bare pass."

* * *

Audrey dropped herself heavily onto one of the Leaky Cauldron's rickety stools and waved the bartender for a glass of firewhiskey. The glass of amber liquid slid into her hands. She took a large sip, wincing at the burn along her throat. The glass landed on the bar with a slam.

Audrey absolutely hated the feeling of not getting her way. Her mother often told her that her incessant stubbornness would be her undoing, but Audrey did have a habit of not listening to her, especially in their final years together. How could she, when the woman would always try to pretend like everything was nice and peachy?

Then again, Audrey supposed that it was more a matter of disagreeing with her mother than not listening. After all, if she didn't listen, she would have probably been long gone from that house the minute the Ministry was overtaken by Voldemort.

 _"This is stupid," Audrey grumbled._

 _"Stupid or not, I will not have my own daughter be incompetent at sewing," her mother chided, sliding the sewing project towards Audrey. Lucille Callaghan had a special stubbornness about her, and it was something she seemed to hand down to her children._

 _"Not the sewing," Audrey clarified. "I mean, sure, I think this is stupid too, but most of all, I think it's stupid that we're sitting here sewing, now, of all times."_

 _Her mother raised a challenging eyebrow. "And what would you rather be doing?"_

 _"Fighting for what's right."_

 _"Audrey - "_

 _"Spare me, mum! You know how wrong all of this is, everything You-Know-Who is doing," Audrey exclaimed. "Why do we continue to pretend that we're the same as_ them _?"_

 _"Audrey, you listen to me carefully," her mother said in a deathly quiet tone. "There is nothing your father and I care about more than your safety._ Both _of you."_

 _"So you would sit here, pretending to be like every other pureblood family out there, just because you want us to be 'safe'?" Audrey challenged._

 _"Yes, I would, and I am. Our family follows traditions, but that does not mean we need to be prejudiced towards anyone - pureblood or muggle-born."_

 _"Well, that's just plain ridiculous," Audrey stated with a huff. She shoved the sewing project back towards her mother and crossed her arms indignantly. "Just because people have done it for so long doesn't mean it's right, and I know you agree with me. What's the point in all this? Being arranged to marry some bigoted traditions-follower and living in a big mansion just so we can be snooty aristocrats. And I'm an adult, you know? I can walk out that door right now and join the Order of the Phoenix, and you couldn't stop me."_

 _Her mother's face paled instantly, and Audrey wished nothing more than to swallow back those words. She hated scaring her mother, or causing her pain, especially because there was nothing Lucille cared more about her than her children. "Audrey... I sincerely hope you wouldn't do such a thing," she said quietly. "You're right, of course. It is all rather silly, and look at the ruckus it causes. Despite that, and no matter how little you care about your own life, you need to remember that_ I _would be lost without you and Brady, so for my sake, do not put yourself in danger."_

 _Audrey let out a small sigh, then replied, "You know I wouldn't want to hurt you. I just get so angry about the whole thing. And it's not like it's any better this way. Brady sends me letters from Hogwarts, you know, and all the Slytherins give him the dirtiest looks, while everyone else steers clear of him because his wardrobe has green and silver. It's tough, mum."_

 _"Yes, it is tough, and yet neither side has a reason to kill you two," her mother reminded. "Always remember that."_

Audrey heard someone take the seat next to her, breaking her out her thoughts, and just about threw the glass at their head. The last thing she needed was well-intended company. After all, the path to hell was paved with good intentions. Unfortunately for Audrey, it felt like she was already halfway there.

She waved for another glass of firewhiskey.

"I would slow down, if I were you."

Audrey's hand twitched - even her own subconscious reflexes were driven by her anger. Audrey could never remember feeling so furious in one moment. She slowly turned to face the person next to her, the source of the voice. Her jaw set when she recognized the person, and she immediately turned away.

"Oh no. Oh no, no, no. Sod off, Flint."

Marcus Flint had been an insufferable toad, for as long as Audrey could remember. He figured himself better than just about everybody - which was ironic for someone that failed a year - and was unimaginably rude to everyone. More so to Gryffindors and those considered 'unpure' of blood, but he saved a slice of rudeness for even his fellow Slytherins and pureblood supremacists.

"So hostile, Callaghan."

"Nope. Sod off," Audrey said. "I swear if one more Slytherin so much as acknowledges me, I will burst a gasket." Her encounter with Daphne still haunted her. She hated that they treated her like one of them, because she wished nothing more than to be forgotten by all of them.

"Lacking house pride, I see," Flint commented obnoxiously. "Not the only pride you're lacking."

Audrey took a deep breath before speaking. Just like Daphne, there was no getting out of this conversation. "What do you want, Flint?"

"To deliver a sentiment that you should be aware of," he started, with a smirk on his face. "Daphne may be nice to you, and you may have that half-blood Beauxbatons girl to keep you company, but the rest of us don't see the Callaghans as more than cowards."

"A sentiment that is equally felt towards the likes of you," Audrey said, motioning towards Flint with her glass.

Flint narrowed his eyes. "Watch your back, Callaghan."

With that, he jumped off the barstool and left the pub. It felt as if the air around her was still heavy with the poor manners and mediocrity of Marcus Flint. Audrey shook her head and downed the rest of her drink. Unfortunately, it did little to ease her mind.

* * *

Audrey hated August. It was stifling. The air was more water vapour than oxygen. The sun was too damn hot.

August was just a terrible month. At least in London it was. Back in Tramore, the small Irish coast town that Audrey had been raised in, the August sun would be accompanied by a cool sea breeze. It was one of the many things she missed of home.

Audrey sighed and continued scanning the streets of Diagon Alley. This was her first shift under a Senior Auror. Jacob Inselberg was fairly young, probably in his mid-twenties, and new to Britain. He had been trying to make conversation with Audrey for the past half hour, but Audrey stuck to her short, closed off, one-worded answers.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stopped and looked up at Jacob with a questioning look.

"Just so you know," he started, "none of the other Senior Aurors wanted you."

Audrey arched an eyebrow at his audacious comment. "Excuse me?" she asked challengingly.

"Listen, I'm new, and I don't know what you've done, but people don't really like you. That being said, I have no reason to judge you, so if that's why you're so quiet... well, you shouldn't worry."

Audrey paused before replying coldly, "I didn't do anything." In essence, it was the truth.

Jacob removed his hand from Audrey's shoulder and they continued to walk along the streets in silence. Things seemed as calm as they could be at this time of year. Parents were shuffling their children in and out of stores with parchment crumpled in their hand, and the ice cream shop was especially crowded. Diagon Alley in August was just about as noisy as the Ministry had been that day Audrey moved to London. It made Audrey grimace.

That's when Audrey noticed him. As distracted as she was by the crowded atmosphere, it was also what allowed her to notice a hunched, cloaked figure shuffling through the streets. He stood out like a sore thumb in the contrastingly exciting environment. His hand was hidden in his cloak, only adding to Audrey's uneasy feeling.

"Hey, Jacob," Audrey said. "Look at that man. He looks really out of place. And I can't see his hand, which isn't really adding to the semblance of innocence."

"Good catch, Audrey," Jacob praised. "Let's go question him."

As soon as Jacob said that, the man's hand came out of his cloak holding his wand. He was raising his wand shakily into the air, as if he was weakened by months of malnourishment. No one had even noticed him yet, too busy reading supplies lists and chatting.

"I don't think we're going to get the chance," Audrey said, pulling out her wand. "Take cover!"

* * *

 **And the cliffhanger has yet to be resolved. I'm sorry :P**

 **Thank you for favourites/reviews!**


	7. Our Own Worst Enemies

**All right, time to get rid of that cliffie ;)**

* * *

 _7\. Our Own Worst Enemies_

* * *

"Take cover!"

Instinctively, Percy grabbed Ginny's arm and pulled her behind some barrels under an awning. He ducked in front of her, covering her with his body. Percy peeked from behind the barrel to see two Aurors, a man and a woman, duelling with a dishevelled, cloaked man, who was laughing madly. His face was hidden by the ragged cloak, but he appeared to be quite skinny. Despite that, he was certainly putting up a fight. He felt Ginny move beside him, and her head appeared next to his, trying to get a glimpse of the action. Percy gave her a sidelong glare. She only stuck her tongue out at him. Ginny never did listen.

As Percy averted his gaze back to the fight, he realized that he recognized one of the Aurors. It was the dark-haired woman from the queue at the Ministry in June. Audrey.

Suddenly, the man they were attacking was disarmed and knocked unconscious. The two Aurors ran up to him and bound him.

As the man picked up the cloaked figure. Audrey turned to the people in the streets. "Clear the way! Remain in the shops until we do a final sweep."

Audrey and the other Auror exchanged words, then the man apparated away with the cloaked figure, and Audrey began sweeping the alleyways. Percy turned to Ginny.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asked urgently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ginny answered distractedly. "A little shaken, I'll admit."

Percy nodded. "I can't believe things like this are still happening."

"Some people just don't know when they're defeated," Ginny grumbled.

She was right, Percy realized. It seemed as if the war was still raging on, and Percy couldn't help but wonder if the Auror Office would ever be able to catch or snuff out every last Death Eater and pureblood supremacist. It appeared as if, at that point, there was no such thing as leaving the past behind.

"All clear here!" Audrey shouted as she came into view.

Another two Aurors approached her. Percy wasn't sure where they came from. "Same for us. We'll handle it from here, Callaghan. Halloway wants to speak with you. Urgently."

"Oh, I'm bloody excited for that." From what Percy could tell from her tone, Halloway wasn't an enjoyable presence.

Percy turned to Ginny as the two of them stood up from behind their hiding place. "Do you have everything?"

"Just a few more things," Ginny answered.

"All right. Let's get them and head home. I think this is enough excitement for the day."

"But... ice cream?"

"Ginny. Please."

Honestly, the girl had to get her priorities straight.

* * *

As soon as the warning to the public left her mouth, a disarmament spell shot from Audrey's wand. The man turned his sights on her and deflected it. He started shooting deadly hexes their way, and Audrey fought to deflect them. He was clearly much more practiced than the trainees that Audrey spent her days with.

"We need to catch him with his guard down," Jacob shouted over the sound of crates falling and people yelling.

"You say that as if it's going to be easy," Audrey replied.

Just as she said that, Jacob was wrenched upwards by an invisible force, one of his ankles suspended in the air. Audrey turned to look at their opponent, who had just cast another jinx. The young witch hardly deflected the spell before another came her way, and the duel quickly became an exhausting trade-off of sorts. Audrey could feel her arm weakening and her palms growing clammy. She wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, and the man was very good at keeping his guard up.

"Expelliarmus!"

Thanks to Jacob, who probably had not dropped his wand despite the sudden _levicorpus_ jinx, the opponent's wand flew from his grasp just as he shot another hex Audrey's way. She quickly deflected the hex, and took the man's momentary shock to stun him.

"Stupefy!" Audrey shouted, and the man flew backwards, knocked unconscious.

After Audrey freed Jacob from the jinx, they ran up to the man and bound him. As Jacob picked him up, Audrey's face paled. She took in his appearance, and her eyes met Jacob's. They were filled with the same worry and urgency as hers.

"Put his hood back on," Audrey hissed. "Let _no one_ see his face."

Audrey turned to the people that were starting to fill the streets. "Clear the way!" she shouted. "Remain in the shops until we do a final sweep."

Jacob nodded. "I'll take him to the office and send others to help you do a sweep."

With that, Jacob apparated away and Audrey began to search the alleyways, her wand gripped tightly in her hand and held in front of her. The alleyways were filthy, filled with rats, and a little smelly, but she could find no other danger.

As Audrey returned to the site of the duel, she noticed her heart was still racing from seeing the man's face. She hardly noticed the other two Aurors coming up to her.

"All clear here!" Audrey called to the two Aurors, as she finally took notice of their arrival.

"Same for us," one of them said. "We'll handle it from here, Callaghan. Halloway wants to speak with you. Urgently."

"Oh, I'm bloody excited for that," Audrey said with a groan.

Dreading the conversation Audrey was to have with her perpetually intimidating training supervisor, she reluctantly apparated away and back to the Ministry.

* * *

Audrey reached Halloway's office and raised her hand to knock. As it did that first day in London, the door swung open before she could do so.

 _If there's anything that makes him less intimidating, it's his love for ridiculous theatrics_ , Audrey thought to herself with a small smirk.

As Audrey stepped into the office, she noticed Halloway was sitting down. That was a position in which she had never before seen the man. Jacob was standing on the other side of Halloway's desk, his arms at his side. He looked towards the door as Audrey walked in and stood next to him.

"Callaghan," Halloway started. "Do you have _any_ idea who you caught?"

Audrey felt her mouth go dry and it seemed difficult to form the words. "Rodolphus Lestrange."

" _Rodolphus bloody Lestrange!_ " Halloway roared, suddenly standing up and laughing. The action nearly shocked Audrey into next week. The man was just full of surprises that day. It unsettled Audrey. "The evasive twat finally meets his end. What a snake, that one!"

"It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for Audrey's keen eye," Jacob started. Audrey looked at him, shocked that he would forfeit credit for the capture. "She's very observant. I know it's only been one shift, and you don't want our first evaluations until the fifth shift, but – "

"Then why are you talking?" Halloway interrupted. The smile had disappeared from his face, and his cold and shrewd tone returned. His voice was followed by heavy silence. "Callaghan got lucky, and you were likely distracted. Take your leave."

There was a pause before Jacob answered, "Yes, sir."

He left the office, and Audrey turned to follow. "Not so fast, Callaghan," Halloway said, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm not done speaking with you."

Audrey fought the urge to yell in frustration and turned back to face Halloway. She braced herself for what was to come.

"Do you think yourself a hero now?" Halloway asked.

"No," Audrey replied stiffly.

"I would hope not." The statement came out with a sense of finality. It was only followed by silent air. "Frankly, I don't trust you, Callaghan. Your family paraded themselves as having no qualms with any blood, yet they stuck to the same traditions as the rest of the purebloods. Do not think this has won you favour."

Audrey held back a biting reply that was sure to get her kicked out of training indefinitely. "No, sir," was her only answer.

Halloway nodded, clearly pleased with her obedience. "You are expected in the Wizengamot in January, as a witness."

" _January_?" Audrey couldn't imagine why they wouldn't rush the case of the madman.

"That will be all, Callaghan," Halloway said, his voice booming.

* * *

"I'm just glad you two are all right," Molly said with a concerned tone as Ginny explained what had happened.

Once Percy and Ginny had arrived home, they were attacked with questions from the family. Apparently, word had reached the Burrow far before the two of them. Now, they were sitting at the dinner table with warm plates of food, and Molly sending uncountable concerned glances their way.

"Yeah, that's great and all. It was really quite frightening," Ginny said airily. "But the Aurors certainly made it worth being there."

"Ginny!" Molly scolded. "Please, be less excited about this. You could've died."

"But I _didn't_ die," Ginny reminded. "I've got to say - the Auror training programme is doing quite well."

"Well, riddle me curious," George said.

"They acted very quickly," Ginny explained. "The woman was something else, too. Pretty talented."

"No more of this!" Molly warned.

"Oh, come on, Mum!" George whined. "Aren't you interested to hear Percy's rendition? I sure am."

"I don't have a rendition," Percy said. "Ginny told it pretty well."

"Well, do you at least know the Aurors?" George asked. "I should like to thank them for saving your annoying arse."

Percy paused, thinking about what answer he wanted to give. He opted for a simple, "No."

It wasn't a lie. He didn't even recognize the man, and in retrospect, he knew next to nothing about Audrey.

* * *

Later in the evening of the attack in Diagon Alley, Percy headed back to the Ministry. The next day was bound to be busy, and he wanted to get a head start on it by cleaning up his work space. Besides, he still felt somewhat shaken by the encounter, and he needed something to take his mind off of it.

As he walked through the eerily empty Ministry, he couldn't help but think how starkly it contrasted itself during the day. The only sounds he heard now were the shuffling of papers, the occasional owl flapping its wings, and maybe a sharp command directed towards an overworked assistant. However, this was white noise, and if Percy really concentrated on something silent, such as the dozing portraits, he could imagine that the place was shrouded in silence.

As he walked down the halls of the second level, Percy's gaze was pulled away from examining the portraits on the walls to face ahead of him and notice another person in the hallway, heading in the opposite direction. As he got closer, he noticed it was Audrey. He stiffened as their eyes met, and they both stopped in their tracks. Just like the first time he met her, there seemed to be a perpetual sense of unease between the two of them.

"Didn't think anyone else would be here."

* * *

 **Sooo, there was going to be a lot of contact between Audrey and Percy in this next part of the story, and it only made sense for me to combine the chapters :)**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	8. A Duelling Mind

**All right, it's time to take a look at how Audrey saw the whole scenario :D**

* * *

 _8\. A Duelling Mind_

* * *

Following her encounter with Halloway, Audrey needed to let loose. She had discovered in the last few weeks that alcohol was not necessarily the best way to meet such an end, and had instead resorted to paying frequent visits to the duelling rooms of the Auror Office after hours.

It was suspiciously relaxing to damage practice dummies.

After Audrey had brought about ten dummies to their early demises, she felt breathless and unweighted. With a satisfied nod at the wreckage she created, Audrey headed for the changeroom showers. She turned on the water as hot as possible. It burned and reddened her skin, causing Audrey to wince in pain, but soon enough she didn't even notice the heat. It provided a warmth that she rarely found in herself those days.

Eventually, the water started to run cold, and Audrey stepped out and got dressed. When she left the Auror Office, Audrey couldn't help but notice how unbearably quiet the rest of the building was. There were still some people shuffling papers and passing through doorways every now and then, but there was no incessant chattering, like one would find during the day.

As Audrey turned her gaze away from peeking through doorways, her pace slowed to a stop. Once again, her persistently astute green eyes met Percy Weasley's kind blue ones. They hadn't seen each other since Audrey's undesired encounter with Daphne, so she could only imagine what he thought of her.

"Didn't think there'd be anyone else here," Percy said eventually.

Audrey shrugged. "The Auror Office never rests." She wasn't about to admit to using the duelling rooms and showers after hours. That was her secret.

As for Percy, he noticed that her hair was oddly damp and her features didn't seem quite as sharp and deadly as they did when he first met her.

Silence filled the gap between the two of them. For the first time ever, Audrey found she was actually getting a headache from excessive quiet. Finally, Percy said, "Well, thank you."

Audrey frowned. "Thank you? For what?"

It dawned on Percy then that she probably didn't see him in Diagon Alley. _You're a pompous idiot, Perce._ "You were one of the Aurors to catch that man in Diagon Alley earlier today, weren't you? I was there with my sister," he clarified.

"I'm not an Auror," Audrey said. "I'm in training." She wasn't sure why she felt the need to make that correction. Maybe it was because part of her was still bitter about her conversation with Halloway.

"Oh. Well, thanks anyways," Percy replied. He was shocked to find out that she was still training. Ginny was right in one respect: Audrey was very talented at duelling. It was surprising that she was only a trainee.

"Yeah, no problem, I guess," was the only reply Audrey could think to muster.

There was another long pause. They were occurring so often between the two of them that they weren't even awkward anymore. However, Percy decided to break it with a question he quickly regretted. "How do you know Daphne Greengrass?"

Anger flooded Audrey's entire body. At first, it was anger with Percy, for even asking. It wasn't any of his bloody business. Then, it transformed into anger with Daphne Greengrass, for being an insufferable bint and talking to her. They weren't even close. However, after that, it was just empty, ambient anger and it filled every single part of Audrey. The ire flashing in her eyes sent a chill travelling up Percy's spine. That, he recognized, was the feeling of regret.

"Why would it possibly matter?" she eventually asked in reply, her tone deadly quiet.

Percy didn't know what answer to give. He would either sound like he was losing his mind, or like he was extremely rude. Neither were graves he wanted to dig for himself. That didn't matter, however, because Audrey knew exactly why it would concern him.

She felt a smile grace her lips, but it wasn't out of happiness. It felt dull and jaded. "Of course," she started, "but I'm sorry to burst your bubble. I'm not leading some crazy pureblood rebellion. Move along."

"You know, you're a lot more disagreeable than when we first met," Percy said, with sudden confidence. He mentally slapped himself immediately. _What the hell is wrong with you? Just leave the woman alone, for Merlin's sake._

The words felt like a knife was being twisted in her gut. Audrey no longer felt angry. She felt hurt and absolutely exhausted. Her intimidating glare was replaced by an expression that Percy had often seen on his own face: exhaustion. Audrey rolled her eyes and replied, "Yeah, well it's been a long day, mate. I'm not really in the mood to do this right now."

On that final note, Audrey brushed past Percy and continued down the hallway to the Floo Networks.

Percy felt like an idiot. She was right, in that it really didn't matter how she knew Daphne Greengrass. The way Percy asked did make it seem like he unnecessarily suspected her of something evil, and he then realized that he probably did.

These suspicions of Audrey were also extinguished in the same moment. That familiar look of exhaustion on her face made Percy realize something: maybe it wasn't because she was tired of work. She might have just been tired of dealing with her past. That was something Percy could both understand and respect.

And then there was her excuse. _It's been a long day_. Its familiarity stung at Percy like the venom of a snake, and only confirmed his revelation of the mysterious dark-haired woman. Her past was something that haunted her on a daily basis, and her deepest desire was simply to escape it and continue life with a clean slate. It was much like Percy's predicament. And like his own predicament, Percy assumed, no matter how much she wanted to escape her past, it was the reason she had been able to achieve any change in the first place. The past was the one thing that kept her firmly rooted in her present.

In that moment, Percy felt sympathy for Audrey, and he only felt worse about his invasive question.

As Audrey swept past Percy, the last look on his face lingered in her mind. It communicated shock and understanding.

Regardless of Percy's reaction, Audrey still had the same painful feeling coursing through her body. Tears stung her eyes. Not because she felt offended by Percy's comment, but because it held some truth in it. Audrey tried so hard to protect herself from her past, but it also resulted in pushing back people that didn't even mean any harm. She was hurt by herself, and it felt absolutely ridiculous.

Audrey realized in that moment that her so-called 'coping mechanism' wasn't the occasional drink at the Leaky Cauldron or gruelling hours of duelling practice. It was being cold-hearted and exclusive. In her experience, the only way Audrey could avoid the past from being repeated was by keeping everyone at arm's length.

Of course, Audrey was not a fool. She saw the self-destructiveness in this, and that was why tears were now running freely down her cheeks.

* * *

Percy slowly and quietly closed the front door of the Burrow behind him. The entry hallway was shrouded in darkness and inexplicable silence. Percy could never remember being the only one awake in that house, and the silence shocked him. It felt incredibly uneasy. He realized it was probably because it mimicked the loneliness he felt when he was living alone.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a glass being placed on a wooden table. Knowing that someone else was awake in the house brought some comfort to him. He quietly walked in the kitchen to see George sitting in the dark early morning shadows with a glass cradled in his hands. A board squeaked under Percy's foot, causing George's head to shoot up and his hand to go to his wand.

"Bloody hell, Perce," George muttered, slouching back into his chair. "You nearly scared me into next week. Give a bloke some warning, will you?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you," Percy said, sitting across from George.

George mumbled something incoherent. Percy assumed he was tired, until his eyes landed on the glass in his hands. His eye's widened and he grabbed the glass from his younger brother's clumsy grip. He sniffed the amber liquid and confirmed his suspicions.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Percy hissed, giving George an incredulous look. "It's three in the morning, and you're sitting here drinking firewhiskey alone?"

George grabbed the glass back from Percy and downed the rest of the liquid. He didn't say anything, and he avoided Percy's gaze.

Percy scoffed. "This is really something, from the man that told _me_ to pull it together," he said.

"It's not the same," George snapped. "He was my other half, Percy."

"I might as well have pushed him into that rubble!" Percy argued, careful to keep his voice down. "You think it was easy for me?"

George only shook his head. Percy noticed his face was stained with tears, and immediately felt like a horrible person. That was something he was feeling often, lately.

"I'm sorry, George," Percy said quietly.

"No, you're right," George muttered. "I don't know, I just want to forget. And I can't. No matter how much of this stuff I drink. And if I try to dive into my work, it just reminds me more of him, because it was _our_ bloody joke shop. Nothing works, Percy."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, you know," Percy said.

George scoffed. "It feels like a bad thing."

"And there's nothing you can do to change that. You can't escape your past, George. You just have to change so that you can live with it. Remember our deal?"

"Yeah, I remember our deal. Did you keep it, though?"

Percy paused before meekly answering, "No."

"Exactly. Easier said than done, isn't it?" George said. He grabbed the firewhiskey bottle from underneath the table and poured another glass.

Percy clenched his jaw and grabbed the bottle from his hands. "Since when do you follow in my footsteps, huh?"

"Well, it's certainly not on purpose. Who in their right mind would want to be a right git like you?"

"Stop it. Stop joking around to make us think you're okay," Percy scolded. "Just because we believe it doesn't make it true."

"You know, I always hoped it would."

* * *

By the time Audrey arrived at the Ministry's Floo Networks, she had a change of heart. Instead of the fireplace, she stepped out into the streets of London and headed for a muggle pub. She needed at least one drink, and she wanted to avoid any unnecessary encounters.

She had three drinks, and no encounters.

By the time she arrived to her flat, it was already dark out. The flat itself was nearly pitch black, with all of the blinds and curtains drawn. Audrey opened the door as quietly as she could, imagining that Erin was asleep. She was right in that respect, except Audrey had not expected her petite blonde friend to be asleep at the dining table.

Once Audrey noticed Erin, her head resting on folded arms on top of the dining table and her blonde curls covering her face, she gently shook her shoulder. Erin's head snapped up immediately, probably not expecting to be woken at all.

"Merlin's pants, Audrey, you scared me into Tuesday," Erin said.

"I'm sorry, I'll knock next time I want to enter my own flat," Audrey replied sarcastically.

Erin rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. "That's not what I meant," she muttered.

That was when Audrey's eyes finally adjusted to the dark and noticed that her friend's cheeks were stained with tears. Audrey immediately sat down next to Erin and grabbed her hand, face filled with worry.

"Erin, what's going on with you?" Audrey asked.

Erin shook her head but avoided Audrey's gaze. "Nothing."

Audrey scoffed. "You're basically my sister. I know when you're lying."

Silence filled the room like a thick vapour. It was dispersed by a sob escaping from Erin's mouth.

"For Merlin's sake, Erin," Audrey breathed out, moving closer to embrace her friend.

"I just – I was just thinking about Dad, I guess, and it always gets me in such a state and I suppose I cried myself to sleep, by the looks of it. Bloody hell, how embarrassing."

Erin's dad was a muggle-born and, quite expectedly, did not fare well during the war. He had been killed in broad daylight by Death Eaters, in front of other muggles and, unfortunately, Erin. Erin's mother had disappeared right before the Ministry fell, but she didn't have high hopes that the French woman was still alive, pureblood or not.

"It's not embarrassing, Erin," Audrey said comfortingly. "You can talk to me, you know? I won't stop you from crying, but you don't have to cry alone."

"That's rich, coming from you."

Audrey tensed. She was just about to ask Erin what she meant, but stopped herself, because she realized Erin was right. That _was_ rather hypocritical of Audrey to say. Just a few hours ago she had been thinking about how closed off she was to everyone, and now here she was telling her closest friend to open up. It wasn't exactly like she was setting the best example for Erin. Plus, if Audrey never opened up to Erin, how could she expect Erin to open up to her?

"I'm sorry," Erin suddenly said, wiping her face. "I'm just so bloody emotional."

"No, you're right," Audrey said quietly. "I never let you into my problems. Why would I expect you to do the same?"

"All things aside, it's pretty sound advice," Erin replied optimistically.

"Erin, we need to make a deal," Audrey continued, her tone serious. "From now on, we open up to each other. If we need to laugh, cry, gossip – anything – we need to talk to each other."

"It's a deal, ma'am," Erin agreed. "Now stop being so gosh darn serious and get me the tub of ice cream from the freezer. We have some talking to do."

* * *

 **So that's resolved... sort of ;)**


	9. Percy: The Reason to be Jolly

**Those last couple chapters were a bit heavy, content-wise, so these next two will be a little lighter :)**

* * *

 _9\. Percy: The Reason to be Jolly_

* * *

Christmas would, without a doubt, be a difficult holiday to get through.

This would be the first Christmas without Fred, and Percy had already noticed two weeks ago that George was beginning to act less and less like himself. Merlin knows that even before that he was, more or less, pretending. That did little to ease Percy's worry, but it was especially discomforting when George no longer felt like even putting in the effort to just _pretend_ that everything was fine.

Moreover, he had uncovered two hidden bottles of firewhiskey the week before in George's flat. At least only one of them was empty, and Percy had given George a stern talking to about it. He doubted that it made a difference, but at least one of them had to make an effort.

In the time span of four months, aside from keeping a watchful eye on George, Percy had found a flat in London close to the Ministry and moved away from home. When he broke the news to Molly, in October, she appeared very uneasy. Percy couldn't blame her. In her shoes, and with her past experiences, he would feel the same way. The last time he moved away from home, it didn't end particularly well. However, by December, she had begun to come to terms with it. Percy came home at least once a week for dinner with the family, and he wrote regularly. He didn't do it out of obligation as a son, but rather as a way to keep himself grounded to the changes he had made thus far.

Now, a week before Christmas, Percy found himself in snowy Diagon Alley, with Ginny and George by his side. Ron had opted to do his Christmas shopping with Harry and Hermione, so Percy unfortunately found himself with the two siblings that were most likely to cause trouble.

At least it was a reason to get George out of his pig sty of a flat and an opportunity to make him crack a few smiles.

"It's so beautiful when it's snowing," Ginny commented dreamily as the siblings walked through the streets of Diagon Alley.

"Someone's in a mighty good mood," George observed. "Do I want to know why?"

"What you want doesn't matter, because you won't know anyways," Ginny replied bitingly.

A wide grin plastered itself onto George's face. "Challenge accepted, dear sister!"

"Please, for the love of Merlin, don't attract any attention today," Percy groaned. "Let's just get our gifts and move on with it."

"A killjoy, this one," George muttered, nudging Ginny. "All right then, you gloomy bugger. Let's head to Broomstix first."

"Fine," Percy agreed. "I think it's just a little ways down the street."

The dreamy attitude had been Ginny's idea. She thought maybe George would forget he was so depressed for at least a few hours if she gave him a reason to tease her, and if Percy acted like his scolding self. Ginny had reasoned that it shouldn't have been too hard for him to pull off, and Percy wasn't sure if he should have felt insulted. In any case, her small plan seemed to be working so far.

Soon enough, the three of them arrived at the frosted store window of the broomstick store. As expected, it was already crowded beyond reason, causing a queasy feeling in Percy's stomach. He really hated being in overcrowded places. It was a wonder he could ever enjoy the Quidditch World Cup, although the bigger-on-the-inside tents might have helped. However, as soon as he stepped inside the store, the dim light and warmth of the place provided a cozy and welcoming atmosphere that instantly put him at ease.

Being the organized person that he was, Percy had a plan. "All right, so here's what – "

"George! Come here, you git!"

Unfortunately for him, Ginny clearly had _other_ plans. Namely, to not listen to Percy.

"Ginny, stop shouting," Percy scolded.

"Look," she said pointedly, dragging George from a rack of broomstick gloves. " _That's_ her. The Auror that captured the cloaked man in Diagon Alley in the summer. Isn't it, Perce?"

Percy looked in the direction Ginny was pointing and, sure enough, there stood Audrey, examining a wall of flying goggles.

"Um, yeah, I think that's her," Percy muttered in reply.

Percy mentally crossed his fingers that Ginny wouldn't grab her attention. His last encounter with Audrey had been anything but friendly. Percy made himself appear like a judgemental fool, and he was sure that by the end of it Audrey's eyes were glistening with tears. The last thing he needed was to explain to his siblings that he had been a complete tosser to the person that had probably saved his and Ginny's lives.

However, Percy was soon pulled out of his own world by George's strange reaction.

"No way in hell," George breathed out.

"Okay, so she doesn't look like the _strongest_ person, but–"

"No, that's not it, Ginny," George said dismissively. "Audrey! Hey, Callaghan!"

Percy paled. How could George possibly know her? Seemingly not to his own accord, Percy found himself ducking into an aisle, hidden from Audrey's view as she turned to look for who was calling her name. He soon discovered, however, that he was not far enough away to have the conversation that would take place drowned out by the noises of children and frantic parents.

A smile spread across Audrey's face as she walked over to George and Ginny. "Well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in."

"Same to you," George replied. "Audrey, this is my sister, Ginny. She claims that you saved her life one fateful summer afternoon."

Audrey laughed. "All in a day's work that I don't even get paid for," she said, then clarified, "Auror training."

"So, how do you two know each other?" Ginny asked, clearly eager to dig up whatever secrets she stumbled upon.

"Audrey and I were in the same year at Hogwarts," George replied. "Probably the only Slytherin that didn't have a broom up her arse - at least not that far up. Actually, she helped us with our little escape in seventh year. It's bloody useful to have access to the Slytherin common room, trust me. Malfoy was _not_ expecting that surprise."

"The git had it coming," Audrey agreed with a laugh. "Apparently, he's as annoying as always."

"You were a _Slytherin_?" Ginny asked in shock.

Percy furrowed his brow in surprise. That had been unexpected. He couldn't even remember Audrey from Hogwarts, now that he thought about it. However, now it made sense why she knew Daphne Greengrass.

 _This isn't right._ As curious as Percy was to find out more about Audrey, he couldn't just _eavesdrop_ on her conversation. He would have to either go introduce himself, or simply stay out of her way until she left George and Ginny.

That was a decision that was harder for Percy to make than he thought it would be. On one hand, he certainly wasn't one to hide from a simple and cordial introduction. On the other hand, he really had been rude the last time they met, and he wasn't quite sure that Audrey would be all that happy to see him. She was quite talented at stunning spells, from what Percy could recall.

In that moment, Percy could not muster the courage of a Gryffindor. He silently moved a few aisles away from his siblings and Audrey, until they were out of earshot. Perhaps it would be a decision he would regret, but in that moment, Percy had a feeling that if he couldn't walk up to Audrey with an apology, he shouldn't walk up to her at all.

After a few minutes, he saw Audrey approaching the cash register, and Percy moved to return to his siblings. As soon as he found them, Ginny punched him in the arm.

"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" Percy exclaimed.

"You should've introduced yourself!" Ginny replied. "Honestly, you have no social skills."

Percy wearily shook his head at his sister. "I was busy looking around. Anyways, I think I've seen her around the Ministry. Didn't know she was a Slytherin, though."

"Aha! Eavesdropping, are we?" George questioned, nudging his older brother. "That's the spirit, Perce! I knew I was rubbing off on you."

"And she's _single_. That's a shocker," Ginny said in a hushed tone, then added, "I mean, you know, assuming she's looking."

Percy honestly couldn't imagine what questions Ginny had asked to dig up that information.

"Quit being such a gossip, Ginny," George said.

"Please, like you weren't curious," Ginny argued.

George shrugged. "Fair enough. Even at Hogwarts, she was just about a mystery to everyone," he admitted. "I'm pretty sure most of the Slytherins didn't even like her."

"Well, from what I know of her, she seems quite nice," Ginny concluded. "Now, let's buy what we need and get out of here. I'd really like a warm slice of pie right about now."

Percy laughed. "That sounds like a plan. My stomach's been grumbling like crazy."

* * *

By the time the siblings stepped onto the streets of Diagon Alley again, Percy swore the snow cover doubled. He felt his nose going numb in response to the cold and buried his face into the scarf around his neck.

As he followed his bickering siblings to the pastry shop, he caught a glimpse of Audrey sitting in front of the tea shop with a blonde girl, who was smiling and talking animatedly. Audrey smiled, clinked her teacup with her friend, and buried her face into the green and silver scarf around her neck. A few years back, Percy would've grimaced in the direction of anyone wearing that scarf. Now, he felt a small smile grace his lips. Audrey just looked so at peace, and it had a similar effect on him.

"Percy! Move your buns, will you?"

* * *

 **It seemed reasonable to me that the twins would've known Audrey since they were in the same year and I think most Slytherins were recognizable by Fred and George. So anyways, yay for a cute chapter! :)**


	10. Audrey: Joy to the Brooms

**For some reason, I find it a lot easier to write Audrey chapters O.O I guess I'm just really scared I'll write the Weasleys OOC :P Anyways, here's the next chapter!**

 **ALSO: I have started a blog for updates and character info concerning the story. It is linked on my profile, and maybe I'll even open it to oneshot requests :)**

* * *

 _10\. Audrey: Joy to the Brooms_

* * *

"Wake up, nénette!"

Audrey groaned. Surely, Erin could think of better ways to wake her up.

On the bright side, she never needed to remember setting up charms to wake her up in the morning.

Suddenly, Audrey's bed lurched as Erin jumped on it with all of her weight. Audrey groaned in response and threw her pillow at Erin.

"Bloody hell, Erin," she grumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"It's Christmas shopping day, Audrey!" Erin exclaimed happily. "And you're _sleeping in?_ Get up!"

"Erin, please, we have all day," Audrey said as she slowly sat up and rubbed her temple. She had a splitting headache and couldn't remember for the life of her how or when it started.

"Well, I'm not going to let my day go to rubbish just because you got drunk," Erin pouted.

Suddenly, it came to Audrey. "It was my last day of Auror training before the holidays. Of course I went drinking," Audrey argued. "And please, for the love of Merlin, _quit shouting_."

Erin got up from the bed and crossed her arms. "Fine."

She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her. The noise reverberated through the room and Audrey swore she could feel the vibrations in her skull. She winced as her head pounded a little harder and groaned into her pillow when she heard Erin laughing from the kitchen.

Downright evil.

* * *

While London may not have been Audrey's favourite place in the summer, it certainly was beautiful in the winter.

Diagon Alley, especially, was nearly all white and frosty. The cold was something Audrey was practiced in dealing with, so she felt in her comfort zone. She was bundled up to the tee with wool argyle socks peeking from her boots, a warm coat, knitted mitts, a black toque, and her Slytherin scarf wound around her neck. Audrey hadn't worn her scarf out since she moved to London, but despite her hangover, she was in a good enough mood to feel confident wearing it.

"Do we _have_ to split up?"

Audrey turned to look at Erin's pouting face. She had a habit of acting like a little girl when Christmas rolled around. Most thought it was adorable; however, Audrey had to live with her, and as a result it was less adorable and more... obnoxious. That would be putting it nicely.

"Erin, you're the only person I could possibly be getting a gift for," Audrey argued. "It's not fair. I'll lose the element of surprise."

Erin crossed her arms with a _humph_. "Fine. Party-pooper."

Audrey rolled her eyes. "How about this: let's meet up at Rosa Lee at one for some tea and scones."

Erin's frown softened slightly. "All right, I'll see you at one, then."

With that, they said their goodbyes and Audrey waited for Erin to round the corner. As soon as she was out of view, Audrey made a beeline for Broomstix.

Erin competed in flying races and Audrey wouldn't hesitate to assume the mantle of a proud friend in that respect. She was quite good, and the speeds at which she flew were fast enough to make Audrey queasy by just watching. Anyways, that also meant she ruined her gloves and broom clippings quite easily, and they didn't exactly come cheap.

Broomstix, as expected, was just about as crowded as it could possibly be – if not more so. The idea of stepping inside a loud, cramped shop made Audrey's stomach roll and her headache worsen. However, once she was inside, the store didn't seem so bad. It was quite warm, which helped Audrey's headache, so she took off her mitts, toque, and scarf and stuffed them into her purse.

Audrey skimmed the shelves and got a couple pairs of Erin's favourite gloves and the newest broom clippings she could find. Then, a wall of flying goggles caught her eye. Most of Erin's races were in Scotland, and in a few months the region would be going into a rainy season. Erin would definitely need some spare goggles.

"Audrey! Hey, Callaghan!"

Few people would still call Audrey by her last name, and being the pessimist that she was, the worst came to mind first. _Flint. Pucey. Nott. Greengrass._ _Malfoy._ Each name nearly made Audrey shudder. However, as she turned to face who had called her, all fears dissolved. A smile graced her lips and she walked across the store to join the young man that had called her name.

"Well, well. Look at what the cat dragged in."

It was none other than George Weasley. She had first met the Weasley twins when they pulled a very traumatic prank on her and a couple other Slytherin girls in their third year. To make a long story short, it involved some sort of slimy substance of which, to that day, the contents were unknown. Anyways, while her friends fussed over their hair and clothes, Audrey chased down the two culprits and threatened to hex them into next week. Clearly surprised by the Slytherin's courage, the three of them struck a deal: the twins would leave Audrey alone, _if_ they gave her access to the Slytherin dungeons when necessary. It proved a helpful alliance in seventh year.

Audrey's mind immediately wandered to Fred. She had heard of his death, and briefly considered expressing her condolences. The one reason she dismissed the idea was because she hated talking about her parents, especially now with her first Christmas without them approaching. She could only imagine the pain George felt when people mentioned Fred. It would be better if the topic was left untouched.

The conversation was fairly cordial and generic, until Ginny asked how her older brother knew Audrey. Obviously, there was no way of avoiding the mention of her house. Audrey was not even the least bit surprised by Ginny's reaction.

"You were a _Slytherin_?" Ginny asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

Audrey rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. She wasn't terribly surprised by Ginny's reaction. "Okay, don't get your knickers in a twist. Merlin was a Slytherin, too, you know," she justified. Merlin was always the wizard to which she would refer when bragging about Slytherin. There were few others that she _could_ brag about. "The house doesn't automatically turn you into a villain. I still have some pride for that house."

"That's because you have poor judgement," George commented. "Anyways, I didn't know you were a flyer."

"I'm not. Can't last more than five seconds on a broom," Audrey admitted. "My flatmate, however, is another story."

The smile that graced Ginny's feature in the next moment may have stilled Audrey's heart. That was the same smile she would see on the twins' faces whenever they were planning a horrible trick on someone. "So, is your flatmate a guy?" she asked.

Audrey frowned. That was a little more tame than what she was expecting. "No, not as far as I know, anyways," she answered jokingly.

"Hmm, interesting," Ginny said quietly. "You're very pretty, by the way."

Audrey's jaw dropped slightly, but Ginny's inquisition was finally starting to make some sense. "Thank you... I think."

"Well, if you do happen to need to buy a gift for a guy," Ginny continued, pointing to some item on the shelf next to them, "this is a good one."

"I'll keep that in mind, should the need arise," Audrey replied with a nervous laugh.

Her love life was touchy subject matter. Even when Erin brought it up jokingly, it irked Audrey. She could hardly make friends outside of work, so how in Merlin's name would she possibly be able to get a boyfriend? It was an endeavour she did not even want to try undertaking.

"Hm. Interesting," Ginny repeated.

"Honestly, Ginny, quit being so nosy," George teased. Then, he added, "But don't you have a brother? I think he played quidditch, from what I remember."

Audrey's face paled and her smile disappeared. The only thing she could think of doing was moving away from the topic. "Well, I've really got to get going," she replied. "I'm keeping my flatmate – who is in fact a grown woman – waiting. And you know, George, I think you have yourself to blame for that nosiness."

"It was nice meeting you, Audrey," Ginny said with a smile as Audrey walked away from the pair and towards the cash register.

When Audrey looked down at her hands, she realized they were shaking.

* * *

Audrey stepped back out onto the snowy streets of Diagon Alley and walked the short distance to the tea shop. She found Erin sitting at a table outside of the shop with two steaming teacups and a plate with two scones. Once she saw Audrey approaching, a wide grin spread across her face.

"How'd your shopping go?" she asked excitedly.

"Fine, and no, you can't guess what I got you," Audrey replied as she sat across from Erin. The grin soon fell off the blonde woman's face. "It's bloody cold, what are you doing out here?"

"Oh, shut it and enjoy the snow, Audrey," Erin commanded. "Here's your tea."

Audrey set the steaming cup down in front of her with a "thanks," and put on her mitts, toque, and scarf again. "So, you'll never guess what happened when I was shopping," she said, trying to pique Erin's curiosity.

"Surprise me."

Well, that certainly sounded less excited than what she had hoped for. "I ran into George Weasley, a former classmate, and his younger sister. It was nice to see familiar faces that don't have something against me," Audrey said, then added as an afterthought, "His sister, Ginny, was quite something."

"Oh? In what way?"

"She was nosing around to see if I have a boyfriend."

"And do you?" Erin asked with a wicked smile and an arched eyebrow.

Audrey paused before answering, "No."

"Hey, what's with the pause?" Erin asked immediately. "That pause is suspicious."

"Sweet Merlin, Erin, stop reading into everything," Audrey grumbled.

"Do you _like_ someone?"

"No!" Audrey exclaimed. A smirk started to surface on Erin's face and Audrey sighed heavily. "Just... leave it, will you? I've had a lot on my mind lately, especially with that ridiculous witness testimony thing coming up next month."

The smirk on Erin's face disappeared. Her lips were pulled into a taut line and her eyebrows furrowed with sympathy as she said, "Right, the Lestrange Case. Sorry for teasing."

"No apologies necessary. I'm sure it'll be fine," Audrey said as she burrowed her face into her scarf and clinked teacups with Erin. "So, anything exciting happen while I was away?"

* * *

 **Yay for cheery chapters! :D**


	11. Percy: Sunrises

**So we'll be getting back to some more serious subject matter now after that comic relief...**

* * *

 _11\. Percy: Sunrises_

* * *

Percy looked next to him to see Fred.

For a brief moment, Percy's heart skipped a beat, and then he realized that this wasn't at all real. It wasn't possible, of course, and he thought himself gullible for believing it for even a millisecond.

They were at Hogwarts. It was May, and the place was a war zone. Fred was laughing and throwing hexes and saying something, but Percy couldn't understand a word. All the sounds around him were drowned out, as if he was underwater. Everything felt cold. He knew what was going to happen, but he couldn't move. His feet were planted to the ground and his arms were stuck to his sides. All he could do was watch the scene unfold.

Watch as the rubble of an explosion buried Fred.

And unlike the real event, he couldn't rush to Fred's side. He could only watch as his family grieved and cried. He couldn't shake Fred's limp body and pray that it shook back.

Percy was severed from everything around him, and it was the worst feeling ever.

Then, he woke covered in cold sweat.

* * *

Percy had apparated to a small meadow somewhere on the outskirts of the Burrow. It was a place he often came to think when he used to live at home, and there was nothing like it in the middle of London. It was still quite dark out and the yellowed grass was frosted over. Percy sat on his coat and watched his breath steam in the cold January air. The sky was mostly dark blue, but over the horizon Percy could see hues of purple and orange peeking through.

He had, for the most part, calmed down since his nightmare. As soon as he woke up, he splashed his face with some water, but it took a few minutes outside in the cold air of the meadow to get his heart to stop racing. The dream was worse than what had actually happened, because in the dream he was completely helpless. It was as if he was separate from everything around him.

As Percy watched the sun slowly rise, he realized that Fred's death would have felt exactly like that if he never came to his senses some months ago. _Months?_ Percy thought to himself. _Hell, it's been over half a year._

He wasn't sure how long he stayed in the meadow, but it was long enough to watch the sunrise.

* * *

When Percy walked into work, his supervisor didn't even notice he was late.

"Weasley," the old man greeted. "You were requested elsewhere."

Percy frowned in surprise. "Elsewhere?"

"Wizengamot. Court scribe," his supervisor replied. "After the trial, you're wanted in Administration Services. Get to it, Weasley!"

Percy rushed back to the elevators, still in a daze. It had been a while since he was a court scribe, and was rather surprised that the opportunity was presenting itself. Then again, the Wizengamot had been especially busy lately.

Percy organized himself as quickly as possible, then settled in to start recording the trial. When he looked up, his eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the person on trial.

With his skinny wrists clasped by chains and looking absolutely ragged, Rodolphus Lestrange weakly stood in his cage in the centre of the room. He bared his teeth like a vicious animal as the Wizengamot filed into the room.

"The Wizengamot calls Auror Jacob Henry Inselberg as witness," the Chief Warlock ordered. Percy quickly began writing.

Percy briefly looked up to see a man only a few years older than him walk into the room. His face was blank, and Percy couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu come over him. He couldn't recognize the man, but he had a feeling that he had seen him before.

"Mr. Inselberg," one of the members began, "what did you see Mr. Lestrange doing the day you apprehended him?"

"Actually, it was my trainee that had initially noticed him," Jacob answered. "When I looked over, he was already pulling out his wand. From the looks of it, the spell he was planning was quite destructive."

"To hell with you blood traitors!"

"Don't record that," the Chief Warlock muttered to Percy. "Very well then, Mr. Inselberg. You are free to go. The Wizengamot now calls Miss Audrey Lyra Callaghan as witness."

Percy's hand froze. Audrey was the trainee? Suddenly, the gears started to spin in his head. He began writing again, and looked up briefly to see Audrey enter and take her seat. Her eyes flickered and landed on him, then quickly turned back to the Chief Warlock. Percy had never before seen that expression on her face. He had seen her angry, frustrated, bored, happy, and hurt, but this was something else entirely.

She looked positively frightened.

Immediately after her entrance, Lestrange started cackling. The magical chains restraining him tugged at his limbs and his laughter faded into a tortured whimper.

"Miss Callaghan," one of the members started, "your mentor claims you were the one to notice Mr. Lestrange. Is this true?"

"Yes," Audrey answered. Her voice wavered slightly.

"What did you see?"

"A suspicious, cloaked man. He was acting very evasive."

"And your first intention was to attack him?"

"I shall object to that, as it is a loaded question," the Chief Warlock interrupted. "Rephrase, please."

"What was your first intention, Miss Callaghan?"

"Mr. Inselberg and I agreed to question the man, but when we looked back he was already pulling his wand out," Audrey answered. "It was late August and Diagon Alley was extremely crowded. The spell he was starting was long and likely destructive, so we decided to disarm him. That led to a duel."

That was when it hit Percy. Lestrange was the cloaked man in Diagon Alley the summer before. Audrey Callaghan, a former Slytherin and an Auror trainee, had captured Rodolphus Lestrange. A sense of dread filled Percy as he realized this, not only because it had occurred to him that he and his sister were dangerously close to a murderous lunatic, but also because this development made him feel even worse about the way he treated Audrey.

"Did you recognize the man as Rodolphus Lestrange prior to attacking him?"

Audrey frowned. "No. We only noticed it was him once he was unconscious. His cloak concealed his face."

"Miss Callaghan, we have reason to believe your apprehension of Lestrange is personal. Reconsider your answer."

"I didn't recognize him until after he was knocked out. How much clearer can I possibly be?" Audrey's voice was filled with desperation.

"Is it true you suspect Lestrange for having murdered your parents and brother during the Second Wizarding War?"

Percy paused from writing and looked up. Audrey was gripping the handles of her chair so tightly that her knuckles were white, and her bottom lip was quivering. Her face was paler than he had ever seen it.

"Chief Warlock, please! What relevance does this hold?" Audrey asked desperately.

"As intrigued as I am, Miss Callaghan is correct," the Chief Warlock admitted. "Make the question relevant, or leave the witness."

There was a pause before the member asked, "Do you have any personal reasons for attacking Lestrange?"

"Still irrelevant, as I didn't recognize him until _after_ the attack. This is ridiculous!"

"She is correct," the Chief Warlock said. "I have heard enough. All in favour of guilty, raise your hands."

The vote was unanimously in favour. Percy couldn't imagine why the Wizengamot member would have pressed Audrey so much if they were all going to vote against Lestrange anyways.

"You bloody Callaghans! You're a disgrace to Salazar himself, to hell with you all!"

Lestrange was subdued, but when Percy looked back to Audrey he could see that the damage was already done. Her legs were locked in a stance that looked ready to start a duel, yet her face held the expression of cornered prey. Audrey raced out, and Percy tried to push her out of his mind to finish scribing.

And yet, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget Audrey's startled and frenzied expression for the rest of the day.

* * *

When evening came and work arrived to a close, Percy didn't feel ready to return to his flat. The idea of sleep haunted him, with the previous night's dream still fresh in his mind. Instead, he opted for a walk to Flourish and Blotts to buy a book. He was running low on reading material, and if he wasn't going to sleep that night, he might as well have had something to keep him busy.

The streets weren't quite as snow-covered as they were in December, but the stone pavement was still blanketed by a thin layer of white ice. A few sporadic flakes began to fall in the midst of darkness, but for the first time in his life, Percy wasn't thinking about how foolish he was for forgetting a hat in early January.

Percy welcomed the warmth of the bookstore as he stepped inside. He took off his mitts and unwound his scarf to let it hang across his shoulders. Immediately, he headed for his favourite section: History and Ancestry.

The history of the wizarding world was probably the most intriguing subject to Percy. Just to think of the developments that were made in the past centuries was exciting. Of course, his siblings loved to make fun of him for it.

As soon as Percy came to the entrance of the History and Ancestry aisle, he stopped dead in his tracks. There, standing before him reading the back of a book, stood Audrey. Her eyes flickered to the side to glance at him, but she didn't look up from the book.

"Sorry for being a git."

He didn't know where the words came from, and Percy realized he didn't even think about them. Percy always thought before he spoke.

"When?" Audrey asked quietly. Her face was less confused and more disinterested. She continued to read the back of the book. Or, perhaps, she was only avoiding his gaze.

"Back in the summer," Percy answered. "When I nosed around about how you knew Daphne Greengrass. It wasn't any of my business."

Audrey scoffed and looked up from the book she was holding to meet Percy's eyes. They were incredibly green, Percy realized, in every light he saw them. "Listen, you don't have to feel sorry for me because my family is dead," she said coldly. "I saw you were the scribe during the Lestrange trial."

"That's not it. I'm not giving you a pity party, so you can relax," Percy replied. "George told me a while ago that he met you again at Christmastime, and how he knew you. I think today was just the slap in the face that I needed to make me realize I had been rude. So I'm sorry."

Audrey's cold exterior seemed to melt slightly. Maybe it was the pink in her cheeks, or the faint smile on her lips that did it. "Apology accepted," she said finally.

Percy nodded then looked at the book in her hands. " _The Evolution of Medieval_ _Duelling_. That's a good book."

"I know," Audrey agreed, her smile growing. "My copy... got damaged. It's a long story."

"Tell it to me over a cup of tea."

The words escaped Percy's mouth before he could stop them, and it clearly caught Audrey by as much of a surprise as it did him. Since when did he stop thinking before he spoke? It was very unlike him.

"I mean, if you're busy–"

"I'd love to."

* * *

Listening to Audrey talk felt inexplicably calming.

Even as she rambled on about the story of how she lost her other copy of _The Evolution of Medieval Duelling_ , it didn't sound like rambling to Percy. Instead, it sounded like a calming melody, or an interesting tale. Maybe it was her voice, or her inflections, but Audrey had a skill for making any words that came out of her mouth sound interesting.

Or maybe it was just Percy.

Nevertheless, Percy was surprised that Audrey had agreed to go to tea with him. She always looked like she wanted nothing to do with anyone, and he hadn't exactly been the nicest person to her in the past. However, she agreed, and now they were both laughing and holding steaming cups of tea in their hands.

Percy would probably try the whole not thinking before speaking thing more often.

"Do you miss your brother?"

The smile melted off Audrey's face and Percy mentally kicked himself. He wasn't even sure how they arrived to the topic. So much for the not thinking before speaking strategy working in his favour.

After a long pause, Audrey answered, "Every single day. I think about Brady more, because his body was never found. At least with my parents I know exactly what happened."

Percy was surprised she even answered; he really thought he blew that one. "I always feel guilty when I think about Fred because I realize it was a lot harder on George, and because it feels like it was my fault."

That was the first time Percy had talked to anyone other than family about Fred. He had always been scared to open up to other people, thinking they wouldn't understand, but when he told Audrey it felt like a weight was being lifted from his shoulders.

"You want to talk about guilt?" Audrey asked. "The night my parents got killed, I went drinking at a muggle pub, after weeks of begging to just go beyond those stupid walls. I could have protected them, or been taken with my brother, wherever he was taken, but I wanted to make a silly point. The past is the past, though. You just have to leave it behind you and keep on going."

Audrey smiled faintly, but Percy could tell it wasn't genuine. Not to his own accord, or so he thought, Percy reached across the table they were sitting at to grasp Audrey's hand. She looked surprised at first, but quickly squeezed back. Her smile widened and it made Percy feel strangely peaceful. That was a change from the uneasy feelings he would get from the moments of silence between them.

"Thanks for the tea, and for listening to me spout like an idiot," she said quietly.

"You know, there's only one way you can make up for it," Percy said jokingly.

Audrey laughed lightly. "And what's that?"

"Now you have to listen to _me_ spout like an idiot."

"Fair enough, Percy. Spout away."

* * *

"You're pretty late."

Percy immediately drew his wand as he heard the voice come from the darkness of his flat. Suddenly, the lights turned on to reveal George leaning on one of the walls with a smirk on his face. Percy's heart slowed down, but only a little.

"Bloody hell, how did you even get in here?" Percy asked as he hung his coat.

"Your defensive spells are so predictable," George said with a fake yawn, following his older brother into the kitchen. "Anyways, I wanted to come to ask if you were going home for dinner this weekend, only to find that there's no one here. Keeping secrets, are we?"

"Sod off, George," Percy said with a glare, as he poured himself a glass of water.

"Well, you know I find out everything anyways," George said.

"I'm sure."

"I only kid. I'm glad you have a life, Perce. It's refreshing. What's that there?" George said, reaching into Percy's bag from Flourish and Blotts. "A book? I take back the part about having a life."

"I say again: sod off, George."

* * *

 **Kind of dramatic and kind of cute? Thank you for anyone that favourites and reviews this story :)**

 **Also, just going to put it out there that I do have plans to bring back Daphne so... worry not ;)**

 **Final note: I decided to start a blog for updates/character blurbs for this story. Just search for the tumblr url _strongholdhp_ :)**


	12. Audrey: Ice Cold

**I know you are all terribly curious to know what Audrey was thinking during that last chapter, so here it is :)**

* * *

 _12\. Audrey: Ice Cold_

* * *

Audrey eyes snapped open and she found herself in an unfortunately familiar place.

She looked down to see her feet planted on the familiar dark floor. Her eyes wandered the walls, decorated for Christmas, and finally settled to stare ahead, where she saw her parents.

Or, more specifically, she saw their bodies, as they were when she discovered them in the wee hours of the morning that horrible day. Covered in blood, bruised, and lifelessly pale. And just like when she discovered them, Audrey fell to her knees, grabbed their hands, and started crying. Crying more than she had ever cried in her life. Partly out of sadness, but mostly out of regret and guilt.

"Where were you, Audrey?"

Audrey looked up to see her brother, Brady, standing before her. He hadn't been there, when all of this _really_ happened, and seeing him standing before her, so ghostly and cold, sent a shiver all over Audrey's body. His arms were hanging by his side, his face was blank, and blood was running down the side of his face from an unseen wound. His skin was just as pale as the bodies of her parents.

Audrey fought to exclaim her apology, but no words came. It was as if her own vocal cords had been ripped out from her throat. She could feel her throat stinging with the effort, but all that came out was ambient air.

Then, the scene dissolved and Audrey woke curled up on the floor of her bedroom.

* * *

Audrey turned the shower water on as cold as possible.

It wasn't cold enough, though, because she could still feel the patter of water on her back. Her skin wasn't going numb, even though the tips of her fingers were a light blue and her breath created a cloud of steam. Suddenly, Audrey heard the door click open and immediately turned off the shower.

"Audrey? It's five in the morning," Erin said groggily. "What on Earth are you doing?"

Audrey didn't reply. She could practically hear Erin rolling her eyes.

"Fine, don't answer, but I know what you're nervous about. All I'm going to say is that karma's a bitch when it comes to murderers, and you need to relax."

 _Oh, karma, of course,_ Audrey thought to herself sarcastically. _What kind of spiritual muggle crap is she rattling on about this time?_

As soon as Erin left the bathroom, Audrey stepped out of the shower, trembling and teeth chattering, and wrapped herself in countless towels. This had not been Audrey's first nightmare, but she always dealt with them in the same way. An ice cold shower to make her skin go numb enough so that the only thing she could think of was a warm cup of tea. It was the only way she could push the horrible scene from her mind.

This time, however, the image wasn't disappearing.

* * *

"Nervous?"

Audrey turned her head to look at Jacob, who was sitting next to her outside of one of the Wizengamot courtrooms. His face showed genuine concern, except Audrey couldn't feel at all grateful for it.

She turned away so he wouldn't see the fear in her eyes. "No. He deserves to rot in Azkaban," Audrey replied stonily.

"The Wizengamot can be pretty intimidating, you know."

"I'm more worried about Halloway's reaction when I walk in late to stealth training."

"He won't be upset if he doesn't notice you walking in," Jacob said. After a pause, he added, "That was a pretty bad stealth joke."

"Yeah, well, at least you tried. More than I can say for myself."

After that, Jacob was called in as a witness. His questioning was quite brief, which only caused Audrey's stomach to churn more when she heard her name called.

"The Wizengamot now calls Miss Audrey Lyra Callaghan as witness."

Audrey took a deep breath and walked into the courtroom. She could hear Lestrange cackling like a mad man. In her peripheral vision, she saw Jacob give her a reassuring nod as he left the courtroom, but it did little to comfort her. As Audrey took her seat, her eyes flickered and landed on the court scribe. She immediately recognized him. It was Percy Weasley.

Audrey averted her gaze and focused on the Chief Warlock, hoping that she didn't look as scared as she felt. The last thing she needed was for _him_ to see her as vulnerable and start to pity her. She didn't need that kind of attention.

She wasn't particularly scared of Lestrange, of course. He was rather subdued, disarmed, and on trial. Besides, Audrey had bested him once before - she could do it again. No, what scared her was the horribly vivid dream that would not leave her mind. Of all the nights to dream so clearly, of all the possible nightmares, it just _had_ to be the night before Lestrange's trial.

Audrey made a mental note to ask Erin more about that karma nonsense.

She started to answer the questions of the Wizengamot, but her replies almost seemed mechanical. Audrey wasn't thinking about the words her tongue was forming. Her nightmare still occupied her consciousness like an unwelcome visitor, so it was her unconscious mind that was doing everything else. Talking, listening, answering, breathing. Doing everything so automatically felt cold, like the water that had covered her skin for hours that morning.

It took the mention of her family to pull her out of her daze.

"Is it true you suspect Lestrange for having murdered your parents and brother during the Second Wizarding War?"

Audrey gripped the arms of her seat as tightly as she possibly could. She felt her lip quiver and all the blood drained from her face. There must have been some way she could avoid this. What were the chances that she would dream about their murder, and then be asked about it only a few hours later? It felt like someone was playing a trick on her.

It was true that she suspected Lestrange, more than other Death Eaters, for her family's death. However, it was not something she ever considered to have affected her taking notice of the cloaked man. Now, with last night's dream still fresh in her mind, she felt her memory muddle. She fought her hardest to avoid talking about it, pleading with the Chief Warlock, until he finally ended the questioning and commenced voting.

The vote was unanimously in favour of deeming Lestrange guilty. Audrey inwardly gave a sigh of relief as she stood from her chair. This was the only thing so far that made her day just a little better.

"You bloody Callaghans! You're a disgrace to Salazar himself, to hell with you all!"

Lestrange's outburst scared her so much that she felt her feet arrange themselves into duelling position. Her hand dug itself into her coat pocket, even though she had been disarmed upon entering the Wizengamot. Her heart was racing now that she was fully facing the violent, ragged man, and Audrey did the only thing she could think to do.

She raced out of there as quickly as possible.

However, Audrey didn't get far, because she ran straight into Jacob in the dark hallway of level two.

"That brutal, huh?" Jacob asked. Again, that look of genuine concern was back. She hated it. It made her feel like a child.

"It was fine," Audrey grumbled, distancing herself from the Auror.

* * *

Audrey loved shopping for books. The only thing she loved more than shopping for books was reading books.

In that moment, she needed to do something she loved. After Lestrange's outburst at the end of the trial, Audrey was distracted for the entirety of stealth training, which earned her an earful and a half from Halloway.

As Audrey stepped into Flourish and Blotts, she took a long, deep breath. The woody, bitter smell of inked paper filled the air. It vaguely reminded her of the library her father kept at their estate. She was practically raised in that library, sitting on her father's lap with a dusty book clutched in her hands.

As of late, everything reminded her of home. The good memories and the bad ones, of course.

Audrey headed for the History and Ancestry section. It used to be her father's least favourite topic, but her mother was a whole other story. There was nothing that woman loved more than a good, old-fashioned history lesson. Unfortunately, at least according to Erin, Audrey took after her in that matter.

At least Audrey could brag that she scored an Outstanding in her History of Magic N.E.W.T.s.

Anyways, she needed to replace her copy of _The Evolution of Medieval_ _Duelling_. Erin had chucked it out the window in a passionate argument about leaving rubbish lying around, and it really was quite the interesting book.

Audrey traced the spines of the books with her finger until she found the one she was looking for. She pulled out the dusty volume and skimmed over the description on the back of the book. Her reading was interrupted by a figure in her peripheral vision. Audrey adjusted her head ever so slightly to see Percy Weasley standing there. She remained focused on the book in front of her.

Audrey had no desire to talk to Percy. Clearly, he had the same perception of her as everyone else: she was just an ungrateful, self-absorbed pureblood. Moreover, the last thing Audrey needed was pity for her past, especially from someone that didn't even like her. If he wasn't going to say anything, neither was she.

However, he did say something. An apology of sorts, but somehow it sounded like forced empathy to Audrey.

Why would he even bother remembering a silly conversation from the summer, anyways? Honestly, some people had an eye for the most ridiculous details. Of all the things he could remember about her, he recalled that she knew Daphne Greengrass. However, when she looked up from the book and met his eyes, they weren't apprehensive or accusatory. The gaze in his eyes was sincerely apologetic. It reminded Audrey of how his face appeared perpetually kind on that day in July when she first saw him. Back then, she found it disconcerting; now, however, it was quite calming.

Audrey fought to maintain her cold demeanour. "Listen, you don't have to feel sorry for me because my family is dead," she said coldly. "I saw you were the scribe during the Lestrange trial."

"That's not it. I'm not giving you a pity party, so you can relax," Percy replied softly. "George told me a while ago that he met you again at Christmastime, and how he knew you. I think today was just the slap in the face that I needed to make me realize I had been rude. So I'm sorry."

Audrey felt her features relax and a smile trying to fight its way to the surface. "Apology accepted," she replied curtly.

Percy nodded then looked at the book in her hands. " _The Evolution of Medieval_ _Duelling_. That's a good book."

"I know," Audrey agreed, her smile growing. It was a rarity to find someone that could appreciate historical literature. "My copy... got damaged. It's a long story."

"Tell it to me over a cup of tea."

The words clearly surprised Percy as much as they surprised Audrey. She felt her jaw drop slightly and her eyebrows raise. Nothing from Percy's behaviour ever indicated that he cared to share a cup of tea with her, and yet Audrey was quite sure that the words she heard were not imagined. Logically, Audrey wanted to decline, but her heart was suspiciously racing and words of a different meaning escaped her.

"I mean, if you're busy–"

"I'd love to."

* * *

"I was just having a row with my flatmate about how we left useless junk lying around in each others' ways, and to make a point, she threw the book out the window. I would have summoned it but, unfortunately, it went straight into an open manhole, and I really didn't want to get whatever nasty liquid was in there on our carpet. I've got to say, though, she's got quite the aim. Should've played quidditch."

Percy laughed at Audrey's story of how her original copy of the book they were discussing got damaged. "Well, I would hardly say that book is useless junk."

"That's exactly what I said!" Audrey exclaimed. "Honestly, the girl has no taste."

Audrey was shocked to find herself getting along so well with Percy. They read similar books and had similar hobbies. They both absolutely hated flying, but loved watching quidditch. Considering how uncomfortable they had been in each others' presences on the few occasions that they had encountered each other, it surprised Audrey that they were able to get on so well. In fact, Audrey couldn't remember the last time she had been smiling continuously for so long.

"Taste or not, you seem close," Percy observed.

Audrey nodded as she took a sip of tea. "She's basically family," she said, setting down the cup. "Erin, she would do everything with me and my brother, so I called her my surrogate sibling. My brother, however, would joke that she was stealing his place as my _only_ sibling."

"Do you miss your brother?"

The smile melted off Audrey's face. In all honesty, it wasn't like she didn't expect this to come up, especially after what happened at the trial. Plus, she had been the one to bring up her brother in the first place.

After a long pause, Audrey answered, "Every single day. I think about Brady more, because his body was never found. At least with my parents I know exactly what happened."

Once the words left Audrey's mouth, it felt like breathing for the first time in months. She did talk to Erin about her parents and brother, but it didn't feel the same way. Audrey figured it was because she had been just as close to them, and then it would make both of them sad and quiet. They were already sharing the same burden, and sometimes talking about it only made it heavier. When she told Percy, however, it was the most comforting thing in the world, and she felt the burden lighten just a bit.

Then, they continued like that, talking about the things they carried with them throughout the day. The things that plagued them. Sadness, guilt, spite. It was the most freeing thing that Audrey had ever done.

Audrey smiled faintly, but really, she just wanted to hug Percy. These were things she hardly ever said out loud, but they had always troubled her mind. When Erin and Audrey talked about the things that troubled them, it felt censored, like they were trying to protect each other from some horrible truth. However, Audrey didn't feel like she had to protect Percy from anything.

Suddenly, Audrey felt Percy's hand grasp her own. She overcame the initial shock and squeezed his hand in return. It felt so nice, just to hold someone else, even in the smallest way.

* * *

Audrey was surprised to find the lights still on when she walked into her flat. It was past midnight, and Erin had an early morning flying practice the next day. Surely, she would be -

"Where were _you_ , Miss Callaghan?" Erin questioned, appearing in front of Audrey seemingly out of nowhere. Her hair was piled on top of her head in what Audrey assumed was supposed to be a ponytail, and she was wearing baggy sweatpants and a much too large t-shirt with an odd stain on it.

"None of your business, you nosy twat," Audrey replied, lightly shoving her out of the way.

Erin gasped. "Were you having a tryst? I _knew_ you were into the secret and sneaky stuff."

"You're insufferable," Audrey groaned, kicking off her shoes. "I went to buy a book, then had a cup of tea."

"Oh, never mind then," Erin said with disinterest. "You'll probably be repelling the male species for the next month."

"And thank you very much, Miss Donoghue, for invariably diminishing my insecurities."

"Please, you're more confident than a male peacock."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone that is reading this story, and especially to those that review! Also, don't forget to check out the tumblr for this story, _strongholdhp_ :)**


	13. Make Me a Match

**From here on out, it was getting a little harder to show the different perspectives, so chapters will have combined POVs :)**

* * *

 _13\. Make Me a Match_

* * *

"George, be a dear and grab me some ingredients from the apothecary in Diagon Alley," Molly called from the kitchen.

"Mum, absolutely not," George replied immediately, storming into the kitchen. "It's the day before Valentine's and I'd like to live to see the light of another day."

Percy found it incredible that a month had already zoomed straight by him. Sometimes, he would wake up and it would feel like it was just the day after his tea with Audrey, but then his groggy eyes would adjust and catch sight of the calendar, and he would soon realize that it had been one, two, three, then four weeks.

Four weeks, and his mind still wandered to a cup of tea he shared with Audrey Callaghan. It shocked Percy to think that he used to be suspicious and wary of her. If anything, she was a little more rebellious and daring than himself, but certainly not pretentious and hateful.

"Quit being so immature and do your own mother a favour, will you?" Molly scolded.

"If you're really worried, I'll protect you, Georgie," Percy taunted as he ate his eggs and toast.

Percy had paid a visit to the Burrow for a Friday night dinner, however, George took the opportunity of his presence to spike his older brother's pumpkin juice, as a friendly joke, of course. Anyways, Percy was in no shape to apparate back home and ended up spending the night in his old room, much to Molly's happiness. Percy himself couldn't pretend he was terribly disappointed by the arrangement. He could never scramble eggs quite as well as his mum.

As for George, Percy figured that only Merlin knew what his mischievous younger brother was even doing at the Burrow that early in the morning. What Percy did know was that George's apprehension towards being around desperate single witches the day before Valentine's Day was his way of keeping a sliver of unhappiness in his life. He had muttered something, albeit in a drunken stupor, about happiness making him feel guilty one night when Percy was checking up on him. It was hard to see George like that, and then pretend like everything was fine during the day, but Percy wasn't about to rush him out of mourning or anything. Even Percy himself wasn't sure he was over Fred's death.

"Fine then. It's not like any girl would get near a git like you," George answered, grabbing his scarf. "Hop to, Perce!"

"Can I at least finish my breakfast in peace?" Percy asked.

"No, you can't," George answered, "not once you've devoted your life to protecting me from the desperate claws of single witches."

"Now you're just being melodramatic."

"Well, don't ruin it, you prat."

* * *

Of all the days for Audrey to find herself out and about in Diagon Alley, it just _had_ to be the day before Valentine's Day. Even the gloomy Slug and Jiggers Apothecary had small, pink heart bubbles floating near the ceiling, and each time one passed through Audrey's line of vision, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She really would have to teach Erin to use their cleaning potion more sparingly. Ingredients didn't come cheap - they cost both galleons and patience.

As Audrey's thoughts wandered to Erin, she turned her gaze towards the blonde witch. Erin batted her eyelashes and smiled gracefully as a young wizard walked past them in the apothecary. Her gaze followed after him until he turned a corner, then the blonde woman gave a dejected sigh and leaned on one of the apothecary shelves.

"It's hopeless, Audrey," she grumbled. Then, as another young wizard walked past, she began smiling and batting her eyelashes once more.

"Erin, quit it. You reek of desperation," Audrey scolded after the man turned a corner.

" _Y_ _ou_ reek of loneliness," Erin shot back.

"Well, I don't give a rat's ass," Audrey replied monotonously, her eyes scanning the shelves for the necessary ingredients.

"Seriously, Audrey, you need to get out there," Erin said. "Not just to, you know, _get some_ , but also to not be cooped up at home or the Ministry all the time."

"No, thanks," Audrey replied curtly.

"Come _on_ ," Erin whined.

"I hate Valentine's, anyways," Audrey continued.

"Why would you hate such a wonderful holiday?" Erin asked with a gasp.

"Because I can buy my own bleeding chocolate. I don't need some guy to do it for me."

"Oh, it's not just that, Audrey. It's the romance," Erin supported with a dreamy tone. "Isn't it nice to have a guy make you feel special?"

"No."

"You have no soul."

Audrey gave an absentminded nod, hoping that Erin would understand it meant that she was no longer listening.

Truth be told, Audrey didn't exactly _hate_ Valentine's Day. There was nothing wrong with a little saintly festivity, as far as she was concerned. It was something she had celebrated quite extravagantly in her youth. She just hadn't felt like celebrating much of anything, even Christmas, since her family's death. Audrey had not yet arrived at the point in her life where she didn't feel guilt every time she had fun. Unfortunately for Audrey, 'fun' included meeting guys. Or 'getting some,' as Erin had put it.

 _Talking with Percy was fun, though_ , another, albeit smaller, part of her brain said, and Audrey couldn't help but agree. It had been fun, and liberating, and Audrey never felt guilty about it. That small meeting had a lasting effect on her, both good and bad. It was good because she was less grumpy and more sociable. It was bad because she had started subconsciously searching for Percy's red curly hair every time she walked through the halls of the Ministry of Magic, and it was a really distracting habit. Maybe _that_ was the real reason Audrey couldn't bring herself to enjoy Valentie's Day.

She really had to stop letting her mind wander so far, though. A cup of tea was just that, and nothing more. Right?

"Do we need this?" Erin asked, shaking a jar of eel eyes in Audrey's face.

Audrey grimaced. "Uh, no. Thank goodness." Erin had never been good at making potions but, thankfully, Audrey had excelled in Potions class during her time at Hogwarts.

As Erin moved from Audrey's line of vision to continue searching for ingredients, Audrey felt every part of her freeze in place.

Through the wet shop window, Audrey's eyes caught sight of Percy approaching another person - a blonde woman, to be exact. Audrey squinted to get a better look at her features and racked her mind for a name.

Then, it hit her like a brick. _Penelope Clearwater._

Yes, it certainly felt like a brick, or perhaps even an anvil.

Audrey could feel her heart growing so heavy it nearly shot through the floor, but she wasn't sure why. She wasn't sure at all, really, why she felt so dejected when seeing Percy and Penelope together. Sure, they had been a couple for a while at Hogwarts, and afterwards probably, but that was no reason for Audrey's chest to feel as constricted as it did in that moment, or for her hands to tremble and weaken.

 _Crash._

"Bloody hell," Audrey muttered as she realized she had dropped the clay pot of porcupine quills that she had been holding. She glanced at the glaring shopkeeper with an apologetic look. "Sorry! I'll clean it up. See? Fixed."

With a few waves of her wand, the pot was repaired and the quills were back inside it. Audrey crouched down to pick it up and heard Erin come up behind her.

"Oi, you're never clumsy," she said observantly as Audrey stood up.

"You don't have to be a twat about it," Audrey grumbled in reply, but avoided her gaze and shook her head so her hair obscured her features. She didn't want Erin to see her flushed face. There was nothing that Audrey hated more than being flustered. If she ever agreed with her mother on anything, it would be that one must avoid being perceived as weak at all costs - physically _and_ emotionally, of course.

"Merlin, Audrey, what's wrong with you?" Erin asked with a light frown on her face.

"Sod off, Erin," Audrey mumbled. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she noticed two familiar statures and nearly groaned out loud. And people wondered why she didn't believe in luck. "Oh! What a surprise."

Unfortunately, Percy had decided to enter the apothecary, along with George. It took every ounce of Audrey's strength not to storm out of the shop right in that moment, but she reminded herself that she wasn't about to cower in the face of a challenge. Even if her heart was nearly jumping out of her chest.

Instead, Audrey found herself absentmindedly wondering if George knew about her and Percy's little tea talk, or if Percy had decided to keep that from him. It was a stupid thing to think about, but for some reason Audrey didn't really want anyone else to know, especially not George. She didn't want it to turn into some joke that he would keep in his ammunition belt.

"A surprise indeed," Erin agreed, coming up beside her. "Well, don't just _stand_ there, Audrey. Introduce us!"

"Erin, I swear on Merlin's baggy trousers - "

"Oh, fine, I'll do it!" the blonde witch interrupted, shooting her hand out for the brothers to shake. "Hi, I'm Erin Donoghue. Something tells me that the two of you already know my dear friend, Audrey."

"Pleasure, Erin," George greeted, shaking her hand. "I'm George Weasley, and this is my older brother, Percy. Say, what are you two Irishwomen doing out here in the cold?"

"Well, funny you should - "

"We're getting some things, as I suspect you two are," Audrey said, interrupting Erin, who gave her a begrudging look. Audrey glared back pointedly, then turned her attention back to George. She really had to stop glaring so much - it would give her wrinkles. "We'll leave you to it."

Audrey wasn't sure if she was getting annoyed by Erin because she was truly being too desperate, or because Audrey was still so shaken by seeing Percy and Penelope together. Nevertheless, she didn't want to stay in the presence of the Weasley brothers longer than necessary.

"Now, hold on a second!" George exclaimed, stopping Audrey from turning away. "It's been a while, Audrey, and I don't think you've had a formal introduction to Percy, so – "

"We've met. Leave it, George," Audrey interrupted stiffly. "We wouldn't want to keep you."

However, part of her softened when she realized that Percy had not, in fact, told George about anything. So, when Audrey's eyes met Percy's, she gave him a curt nod and a small smile before turning away and heading for the cash register. The words 'let's go for lunch' nearly spilled from her mouth when her gaze met Percy's, but she kept it bottled up. Clearly, he was preoccupied with someone more special, and Audrey was not about to put herself in _that_ compromising position.

Audrey tried to pay for her ingredients and leave the apothecary as quickly as possible. Erin trudged after her with a displeased look on her face. Once the two women were out in the slushy streets of Diagon Alley, Erin grabbed Audrey's shoulders and stopped her in her tracks. Audrey turned to face Erin with a heavy sigh.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Erin demanded. "The tall one was cute! I mean, he was missing an ear, but cute. The point is, you can't condemn me to the same lonely fate that you've placed upon yourself just because you're _scared_."

"Nothing's wrong with me," Audrey replied stonily, crossing her arms. "And I'm not condemning you to anything. By all means, go ask him out. And _don't_ call me scared." She decided she would leave out the small detail that George was probably in no shape to take a girl on a date. If Erin wanted to be bold and brave, she could do it without Audrey's help.

"Why did you get so shaken all of a sudden?" Erin asked as her features contorted to express concern.

For a small moment, Audrey considered continuing her facade. However, it dawned on her that Erin would only continue bugging her, and if she didn't at least get _something_ off of her chest, she would continue to find everything Erin did absolutely annoying. Besides, it wasn't like Audrey at all to keep things from Erin.

"I don't know, okay? Just let me steam a bit," Audrey answered. After a pause, she added, "I'm sorry. It's not you. I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"I know that, silly," Erin said, a small smile forming. "We're like sisters. So I'm always here for you. Even if you're an absolute bitch to me. But not too much of a bitch."

Audrey laughed. Leave it to Erin to turn a sweet moment into a silly one.

The two women hugged and just as they were turning to leave, they found themselves stopped in their tracks once more.

"Audrey! Wait a minute."

* * *

As Audrey and Erin left the store, George turned to Percy. "You've _met_? When?" he asked, a confused look on his face.

"I told you. We see each other at the Ministry," Percy replied. His eyes still flickered towards the door, even though Audrey was long gone. Part of him wished he could whisk her away with another cup of tea and make everything all right, but that was _their_ small secret.

"I've known Audrey for a while, Percy. I've never seen her so agitated, and I've dumped a lot of strange things on her head and caused her a lot of stress," George said. Percy was impressed he could say that last part with a serious face. "So spill the beans: how'd you meet?"

"We ran into each other, had a small talk. Leave it, George." Percy was starting to feel uncomfortable. For some reason, he didn't want anyone else to know how he knew Audrey. He just wanted to know her, and that was it. _So much for our small secret_ , Percy thought to himself.

"Huh. Look at that. The two of you use the exact same tell-offs," George observed. Then, he added mockingly, "'Leave it, George.' Tell me, Perce, when do I ever leave anything?"

Percy rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the stocked shelves. "What do you want?"

"The truth, of course."

Percy paused and thought carefully about his answer. "We ran into each other at Flourish and Blotts a month ago. Had some tea."

"In a _bookstore_? Sweet Merlin, Percy..." George said with exasperation. Percy gave him a scowl. "And? What else?"

Either George knew him too well or Percy wasn't very good at keeping things hidden. "I was the court scribe for a trial she was a witness in earlier that day. She was pretty shaken by it. That's why I offered to buy her tea."

George didn't reply immediately, and Percy was sure he was thinking up some silly joke to crack at his expense. Maybe that's why he didn't want to tell anyone about Audrey: he didn't want it to be just another one of George's jokes.

However, when George did finally reply, they were not the words Percy was expecting.

"Percy, you flat-out rejected Penelope."

"That's completely unrelated," Percy replied immediately, almost as if he had the answer planned.

When Penelope had asked him out to a dinner, just a few minutes earlier, he promptly rejected. She was in his past, and it felt as if there was something - perhaps, someone - in the present that had a very strong grip on him. Now, after seeing Audrey, he was starting to think it was her, but that couldn't be possible. He was just being cordial.

"Is it?" George asked challengingly. He gave Percy a shove, which made him look at George with a scowl. The look on his younger brother's face was one of seriousness. It was strange on George's features. "You better go out there and talk to her."

"I'm not going to make a fool of myself for nothing."

"Oh, Percy, I don't think it would be for nothing. I mean, Flourish and Blotts? You two are something else."

* * *

 **I'm not _terribly_ happy with this chapter but... it's here. Stay tuned for chapter 14 :)**


	14. Old Friends

_14\. Old Friends_

* * *

"Audrey! Wait a minute."

There as a scowl on Audrey's face as she turned to see who had interrupted their departure, however, it quickly melted off as she took in the person that was coming towards her. Her eyebrows rose and her eyes widened to express her surprise.

" _Gemma?_ " Audrey asked. "I must be seeing things!"

"I sure hope not," Gemma replied with a smirk as she approached Audrey.

Audrey started walking towards her, too, and met the older woman in a tight embrace. Gemma Farley had been the one person at Hogwarts that Audrey wouldn't hesitate to call a friend. Having been older than her, as well as a prefect, Gemma never hesitated to assume the mantle of a mother bear. Now that Audrey thought about it, it had been ages since she had last seen her.

But that was most definitely Gemma Farley standing before her. She had the trademark dark skin and nearly black hair of the Shafiq family, handed down from her mother, and the extremely thick Irish accent, thanks to growing up in Dublin. Being the daughter of a disowned pureblood, Slytherin might not have been the friendliest to Gemma, but she had never hesitated to defend Audrey _and_ Daphne when they needed it, as if they were her own children.

"Merlin, how long has it _been_?" Audrey asked. Then, with a jolt, she added, "Sorry! I'm being quite rude. This is my friend, Erin Donoghue. Erin, this is Gemma Farley. Also known as Mother Bear."

"Audrey, that nickname isn't any less stupid now that we're adults," Gemma scolded.

"See? Do you hear that tone?" Audrey exclaimed towards Erin, who only laughed at her friend's excitement. "Mother Bear."

"Well, Mother Bear is going to maul you to pieces if you don't stop calling her that," Gemma replied as she crossed her arms and challengingly raised an eyebrow. The two Slytherins stared each other down for a moment, then both burst into bouts of laughter.

"Oh, I've really missed you, Gemma," Audrey said as her laughter died down. "So, what has you in Diagon Alley on this lovely Saturday?"

"Uh, actually - "

"Gemma?"

Audrey knew that voice, and her smile dropped when the person came into view. " _No_ ," she breathed out. "Tell me it isn't so, Gemma."

"Erm, well - "

"Callaghan, " Marcus greeted as he came to stand beside Gemma.

Audrey turned her narrow-eyed gaze to Marcus. "Flint," she replied. "Threaten anyone in a bar, lately?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to apologize for that," Marcus said. His face was too blank for Audrey to tell if he was being sincere or not.

"You've been _meaning_ to - well, by golly! Then it's all nice and dandy, isn't it?" Audrey exclaimed sarcastically. She crossed her arms and let out a frustrated huff, turning her gaze away from the couple as her face started to go red.

"Audrey, _you_ know better than anyone that people _change_ ," Gemma said in a calm voice.

 _Flint? Marcus bleeding Flint?_ Audrey thought to herself, fuming. _The smartest girl in Slytherin chooses **him**?_ However, as much as Audrey disliked Flint, she also couldn't ignore the calmness in Gemma's voice. It reminded her of the many times she would try to talk reason into Audrey when she would get into a spat with someone. Gemma Farley was not known for stupid, reckless decisions, and Audrey Callaghan was not known for her rash judgements.

If this was what Gemma wanted, then Audrey would at least bear through it with a clenched jaw.

"Well, six months must be some sort of record," Audrey commented as she turned to glare at Marcus.

* * *

Percy stumbled out of the apothecary to talk to Audrey, but immediately stopped in his tracks.

George ran straight into him, nearly bringing both of them to the ground.

"You've got to stop doing that, mate," George grumbled. "At least give a bloke some warning."

"I think I've missed my window, George," Percy said, ignoring his younger brother's grumblings.

George finally looked past Percy to see Audrey and Erin talking to two other people. "Hey, would you look at that! That's Gemma Farley. Bribed her enough times while she was on prefect duties to know. And... is that Marcus Flint? Huh, look at that. He still has that stupid overbite."

"You bribed the prefects?" Percy asked as he turned to give George an incredulous look.

George shrugged. "Of course," he replied. "How else do you think we got away with all of that nonsense. Sometimes, our sheer genius would be enough, but other times... Well, we weren't below asking for help, is my point."

Percy only scoffed and turned to walk in the other direction, but George grabbed his shoulder to stop him and asked, "What the hell do you think you're doing? You haven't missed any bloody window. Just go up to her."

"But - she's - we should wait."

"Wait? No, no. You either go up to her, or we leave," George said in a commanding tone. "I'm not going to lurk around here, waiting for her to finish reminiscing."

"I - I don't know," Percy muttered. "Maybe this isn't such a great idea."

"Don't be a wuss, Perce," George said as he gave Percy a light shove. "Although, I'll admit - I'm a little shocked to see her around Marcus Flint."

"I wouldn't be so quick to judge," Percy replied.

"Well, aren't you full of wise words?" George asked mockingly.

Percy knew they weren't wise words. They were words from a lesson he learned the hard way. Audrey had her arms crossed, a stony expression on her reddening face, and the few times she would meet Flint's eyes, it would be for the purpose of sending him a glare. Percy had seen Audrey like that one time before, and it was when Daphne Greengrass approached her. Back then, he didn't even take notice of Audrey's behaviour. Now, he realized it all screamed of her discomfort with the situation at hand.

Percy only wished that he had been smart enough to notice that the first time he met her.

"Tick tock, Percy," George taunted.

"I just - "

"Well, I'm not going to stand around here like a creep," George interrupted.

"Fine!" Percy exclaimed.

With an indignant huff, Percy turned away from George and started walking towards Audrey. The moment she noticed him approaching, she took her own step forward and grabbed his arm, all the while muttering, "Thank Merlin." She gave one last glance over her shoulder and shouted, "Be right back!" as she led Percy far away from Erin and the two Slytherins.

Once they were partially hidden by some crates outside of a shop, and out of view and earshot, Audrey turned to Percy and let out a sigh of relief as she said, "I owe you one. Gemma's great, but Flint is a piece of - " she cut herself off and bit her lip nervously before continuing, "Well, he's _not_ great."

"Not a problem, I suppose," Percy said. "I actually did want to talk to you, though. I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go for another cup of tea, or maybe a lunch."

Audrey's features contorted into a look of surprise as she stuttered out, "Is that - I mean, are you _comfortable_ with that?"

This didn't make any sense to Audrey. One moment, Percy was outside talking to his girlfriend, and the next, he's asking her to a lunch. He was probably asking as a friend, but surely that must have been awkward for his girlfriend, at the very least.

"Am I...?" Percy trailed off with a frown. _What's she going on about?_ "Yes, I am. I quite enjoyed our last cup of tea."

"Oh," Audrey let out. "I mean, I enjoyed it, too, of course! I just thought - well, never mind. If it's all right, then that would be lovely."

"Of course it's all right!" Percy exclaimed with a laugh. "I'm a tad busy this weekend, so how's Monday after your training? Five, perhaps? The same place?"

 _Of course he's busy this weekend_ , Audrey thought to herself, feeling suspiciously crestfallen. _It's Valentine's Day this weekend._ "Yes, that works fine," she replied quietly. "Now, I think I should probably get back to Erin."

"Right, of course," Percy said with a grin. "I'll be looking forward to Monday."

Audrey nodded and forced a smile, which fell off her face as soon as Percy turned his back to rejoin George. She let out a sigh and covered her face in frustration. _Why can't I just be a hermit?_ Audrey wondered to herself.

"Boo!"

"Ah! Damn it, Erin!"

Erin laughed as Audrey sent her a glare and took a deep breath. The blonde linked their arms together and dragged Audrey along with her. "Those two had to go, but Gemma said she'd send an owl to organize a lunch meeting. Daphne included," Erin explained.

"Daphne's at Hogwarts," Audrey stated.

"That's the other thing she wanted me to tell you," Erin continued. "Daphne took her N.E.W.T.s at the Ministry in August, when _apparently_ she ran into you and said some things she regrets."

"Great," Audrey said sourly.

"Anyways, let's forget all about that. I'm more curious to find out how exactly you know this Percy character," Erin said. "Wait. Is _that_ what's been bothering you? Are you in a _relationship_ , Audrey?"

"I'm not in a bleeding relationship," Audrey grumbled. "We just had tea together after the Lestrange trial. He was nice, and I thought that was it."

Of course, Audrey was lying. She had not been able to allow herself to believe that that was simply _it_. It was why the hours they talked never fully left her mind and always brought a smile to her face. It was why she always searched for his face among the crowds at the Ministry.

It was silly, and Audrey wasn't sure if she was lying to try to convince Erin or herself in that moment.

"Wait. The Lestrange trial?" Erin asked. "Isn't that when you brought home that thick book about ancient duelling, or something? You snagged a guy with _that_ rubbish?"

"Thank you for your undying confidence in me," Audrey said sarcastically. "Anyways, like I said, it's not a big deal. Especially since I was in _Slytherin_ , and he - "

"Oh, not this bullshit again!" Erin exclaimed. "What the hell is it with you Brits and your _satané_ houses, anyways?"

"Okay, we're both Irish, Erin, come on," Audrey reasoned. "And Hogwarts is in Scotland."

"You know, if the French do one thing right, it's _not_ having houses at their magical schools," Erin continued, clearly ignoring Audrey. "Maybe _that's_ why Hogwarts seems to _breed_ evil wizards. I mean, who's the most evil person out of Beauxbatons? Luc Millefeuille? I'm pretty sure he got killed in his sleep."

Audrey sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am," Erin replied. "Those houses mean nothing. I mean, you're nice. Gemma's nice. That Marcus guy is a little bit of a creep, but he's making small steps towards being a better person, from what I can tell. I'm _very_ right."

"Don't get too over-confident, there," Audrey warned jokingly.

"I am _sufficiently_ confident, than you very - "

"Hey, Audrey, right?"

Audrey and Erin stopped in their tracks to search for the owner of the voice, and Audrey's eyes landed on a familiar young man.

"Yes! You're Oliver Wood, if I remember correctly," Audrey greeted. "It's nice to see you! I can't remember the last time we talked."

Oliver nodded and approached them. "Yes, you do remember correctly. I think you were saying something about being a horrible flyer the last time we ran into each other," he replied. Then, his face contorted into a small frown and Audrey followed his gaze to... her scarf. Her Slytherin scarf. "Where'd you get that?" he asked cautiously.

"It's mine," Audrey answered quietly as her hand nervously went up to the scarf. A knowing look came onto Oliver's face as Audrey jokingly added, "It's not exactly something I brag about on a regular basis."

"Well, you should!" Erin shouted. Oliver turned to her with a startled look as Erin pointed an accusing finger at him. "See, Audrey? _This_ is exactly what I was saying!"

And there was Erin's infamously passionate anger. Once the girl got started one something, she wouldn't stop.

"I'm so sorry, she's been in a right mood all day," Audrey said to Oliver as she painfully nudged Erin in the side. "Usually, my dear friend Erin is very pleasant, but she was _just_ going on about how ridiculous Hogwarts houses are. Then again, she went to Beauxbatons, so what does she know?"

"Pah! Quelles conneries!" Erin exclaimed with a huff.

"See? She's being quite irritable," Audrey continued. "You _really_ wouldn't want to get on her bad side right now."

"Thankfully, I was going to say that it's people like you that remind everyone that Slytherin students aren't all bad," Oliver said with an amused smirk on her face.

"Oh, were you now?" Audrey asked, but her gaze was fixed on Erin. "What do you have to say to that, Erin?"

"Perhaps, I overreacted," Erin said quietly as she crossed her arms, avoiding both Audrey's and Oliver's eyes. Then, she sharply turned to face Oliver and added, "That doesn't change the fact that you looked so bloody _shocked_ when you saw that scarf."

"Merlin, Erin - listen," Audrey started, turning to Oliver, "I'm sorry about this. It really is nice to see you again. How's life been treating you?"

"Not too bad, actually. Finally getting off reserve for Puddlemere," Oliver replied.

"Would you look at that? That's fantastic! I do remember reading something about Harbeck retiring," Audrey praised.

"Real shame. Harbeck's a great Keeper," Erin mused.

"You're telling me," Oliver agreed. "They're some big shoes to fill. Hey, since I've run into you, would you like a couple of tickets to the first game? I'm sure I can get them."

"Oh, that's really not necessary," Audrey started with a smirk, "especially since the first game is against the Kestrels. I would hate to watch you lose."

"Kestrels fan, then?" Oliver guessed.

"Am I Irish?" Audrey replied rhetorically. She gestured towards Erin with her thumb and added, "This one's a right traitor to our kind. Big Puddlemere fan."

"Hardly," Erin said with a scoff.

"You have two Puddlemere posters and a kit. Stop kidding yourself."

"Well, it's been nice talking," Erin said in a bored tone, promptly ending the quidditch conversation. She turned to Audrey and added, "We should head back before I'm late for practice."

"You play quidditch, too?" Oliver asked.

"As if that's the only sport in this godforsaken wizarding community!" Erin exclaimed.

"You are really talented at pushing her buttons, you know that?" Audrey told Oliver with an exasperated look.

"I compete in flying races, thank you very much, and I have to take a bleeding Portkey all the way to the isolated land of Banff, Scotland tonight, so a little more appreciation would be _nice_ ," Erin seethed.

"We'll be on our way before she burns Diagon Alley to the ground," Audrey said to Oliver as she waved goodbye.

"Every damn time I open _Witch Weekly_ it's all about stupid quidditch players," Erin grumbled as the two women walked away from Oliver.

"Good Godric," Audrey muttered. "You're off your trolley, Erin."

* * *

 **For anyone that's wondering, Luc Millefeuille was a Beauxbatons student that became a pâttisier and was famous for poisoning Muggles (source: Harry Potter Wiki).**

 **Thanks for reading! Reviews warm my heart ;)**

 **P.S. - French translations:**

 **satané - damn (adjective)**

 **Quelles conneries! - What bullshit!**

 **(7 years of French lessons and this is the knowledge I retain)**


	15. Humiliating

**Okay, so this chapter is a LOT longer because there was no where I could cut it off without... dragging everything out for longer than necessary. SIGH.**

* * *

 _15\. Humiliating_

* * *

Percy strode to the front door of his flat as the doorbell rang, attempting to tie his necktie at the same time. After nearly tripping over thin air, he decided it would probably be a better idea to do one thing at a time.

As soon as Percy opened the door, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Not now, Oliver," he said wearily. "It's Monday. I've got to get to work."

"Well, I _don't_ , so enjoy my company, you prat," Oliver stated with a joking smile as he walked past Percy and into the flat. "Besides, I brought breakfast. I think I'm expediting your morning, if anything."

"By all means, come in," Percy muttered sarcastically as he shut the door. "There's a pot of tea on the table, if you like. Congratulations on getting off reserve, by the way."

"Wonderful, and thank you," Oliver replied as he sat down at the dining table and poured himself some tea. "So, tell me: any exciting developments lately? Not work related, of course."

"You want to do this _now_?" Percy asked. Oliver nodded emphatically and Percy sat down with a heavy sigh. He resumed working on his tie as he replied, "Are you trying to make conversation, or give me a challenge? 'Not work related.' That's funny."

"Challenge, of course," Oliver replied as he pulled a scone out of the bag he brought.

After some thought, Percy also took a scone and replied, "Well, actually, there is something. I ran into Penelope in Diagon Alley, and she invited me over for dinner this past weekend."

"Oh, Perce, please tell me you didn't - "

"I didn't, because I'm rather confused at the moment. There's this woman - "

"Now _this_ is a development!"

"Can you just keep your mouth shut for one minute?" Percy asked, growing irritated. Oliver shrugged and Percy continued, "Anyways, there's this woman, and honestly, when I first met her, I thought she was... disagreeable. Now, though, I can't get her out of my head - and I mean that in a good way. I don't know what it is, Oliver."

"Did she go to Hogwarts?" Oliver asked, clearly interested to find out more about the woman that had Percy in such a state of confusion.

"Yeah," Percy answered. "Her name's Audrey Callaghan."

"Oh! I know Audrey!" Oliver exclaimed. "I mean, I've only talked to her a handful of times, since she wasn't in our year, nor did she play Quidditch, but she seems nice enough."

"What? You _know_ her?" Percy asked in shock. How Oliver knew someone that was in Slytherin and didn't play quidditch was beyond him.

"Sure. Talked to her just this weekend. You know she was a Slytherin, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's not the point. Oliver, I have an idea," Percy started. "Can you ask her what she honestly thinks of me? I feel like she's holding back."

"Percy, do I look like a bleeding matchmaker to you?" Oliver asked. Then, while emphatically shaking his head, he added, "No way in hell am I going around asking women what they think of you. What's the big deal, anyways? You're single, she's single - you really have nothing to lose."

"It's odd, Oliver. When I'm around her, I feel like I could tell her anything. I'll say something stupid one of these days. I know I will."

"Any chance you're _not_ going to go barmy over this?"

"Not bloody likely."

* * *

Words could not describe how much Audrey hated concealment and disguise training.

Audrey's back was pressed flat against the floor - ground, actually - with an extremely uncomfortable leaf blanket of sorts covering her. The training room had been transfigured and decorated to look like a forest. Obviously, Halloway would not skimp on the weather. The forest room was muddy and chilly, with the occasionally bone-shivering breeze passing through.

This was the first round of tests for concealment and disguise. First test: keep yourself hidden in an unknown setting. Audrey had been shoved into the room with a total of five minutes to come up with something. She decided to transfigure that ridiculous leaf blanket out of a small log lying around, and even went for mud in her hair and on her face just to be safe. She had decided against hiding behind a rotting, fallen tree - far too predictable - and instead flattened herself near a small collection of bushes next to a shallow stream.

Then, she had to think of spells. She automatically placed a Disillusionment Charm on herself, but that would disappear if she got distracted. Then, as a precaution, Audrey cast a small shield around herself, with a Knockback Jinx that would be activated if anyone would search through the bushes. That would give her a head start on disarming. Audrey kept her wand close to her chest, underneath the covering of leaves and branches she transfigured, and tried to steady her breathing.

The rest of the test was straightforward. After Audrey's five minutes to think quick and conceal herself, another trainee would come in and attempt to find her in ten minutes or less. The only way of getting full marks was by not getting found at all; however, Audrey would still score fairly well if she was found and won in the duel that would commence.

The moment Audrey heard the door creak open and dry leaves crunching under someone's feet, she began to count down from six hundred. It kept her mind away from nervousness, and her senses more focused on what was going on around her.

Audrey was down to one hundred seconds left when she heard a yelp as someone flew across the room.

 _Damn it_. Audrey leapt up, not stopping her counting, and immediately shot a Disarmament Charm. She was sure that her Disillusionment Charm had worn off. The other trainee - one of the women - dived behind a tree to dodge Audrey's spell and immediately shot a Stunning Spell after Audrey, which she deflected.

After that, the duel turned into a stalemate. The two trainees were trading hexes and deflecting, and it was beginning to tire Audrey. She knew that if she couldn't decisively win the duel, her final marks would not be very good.

 _Fifty-four, fifty-three, fifty-two, fifty-one..._

Audrey's eyes skimmed the room and landed on a large rock near her opponent. That was when the idea came to her.

With a flourish of her wand, Audrey cast a non-verbal _lumos maxima_ as she shielded her own eyes, filling the room with a blinding light. She ran for the rock and ducked behind it. The light still filled the room, but it was starting to diminish. From her position behind the rock, Audrey had a fairly good idea of where her opponent was, and she didn't even need to look when she casted her Knockback Jinx.

 _Twenty-four, Twenty-three, Twenty-two, Twenty-one..._

Audrey heard another shout of pain and a thud as her opponent landed. The light had diminished enough at this point that Audrey could see the silhouette of her opponent attempting to get back up. Audrey shot an Incarcerous Spell to bind the woman. Once the light was mostly gone, she ran over to disarm her.

"Done!" shouted a voice from an unknown source. "And with fourteen seconds to spare. Well done, Callaghan."

Audrey sighed in relief, removed the ropes from her opponent, and helped her up. The woman was scowling, but took Audrey's hand nonetheless. The two walked out of the training room together and found Halloway, along with their respective assigned Senior Aurors, waiting for them directly outside.

"Impressive, Callaghan," Halloway praised. Then, for good measure, he added, "Not a perfect mark, but I'm sure you're not surprised."

Audrey clenched her jaw to keep from replying. She had noticed Halloway making more remarks about her absence of a perfect mark in any tests they had, and Audrey assumed that he had taken note of her arrogant tendencies. Well, if he wanted to irk her, she would not give him that satisfaction - no matter how much it killed her inside.

"Thank you, sir," Audrey replied stoically.

Halloway narrowed his eyes at her, but decided to turn towards the other trainee and said, "Your performance was somewhat mediocre, Fairweather, but the searching test is not weighted as much as the concealment test, so you still have an opportunity to redeem yourself."

"Yes, sir," Fairweather replied.

"All right, then! Unless your assigned seniors want to speak with you, you are free for the day," Halloway instructed. "I expect both of you in the duelling rooms tomorrow, practicing with the first and third year trainees, while everyone else finishes their tests."

Halloway stormed off, and before Fairweather could be pulled aside by her Senior Auror, Audrey placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. The woman turned to her with a scowl.

"Um - good job," Audrey said. She wasn't quite sure why she felt like she needed to tell her that, but something had compelled Audrey to approach the woman. "Halloway is just a firm believer in tough love, I think."

"Why do you care? You did _well_ ," the woman shot back. "It's not like I stood a chance against you, anyways. I heard some rumours that your dad trained you in duelling before you were even of age."

"What? That's rubbish," Audrey replied, her brow furrowing in confusion. Honestly, the rumours people spread were of a mad imagination far beyond her. "I mean, my dad _talked_ to me about duelling, but I only duelled with him a handful of times, and only after I turned seventeen. It was all in sport, really."

"So then you're just naturally talented, eh?" Fairweather asked sourly.

"I'm trying to be _nice_ to you, and it's kind of hard when you're being so bitter," Audrey snapped. "Good job on your test. My name's Audrey, if you happen to care."

"Oh. I thought - because - I mean, people always say you're..." she trailed off and looked away.

"A sneaky Slytherin?" Audrey finished, raising a questioning eyebrow.

Fairweather slowly nodded and said, "Yeah. But I guess not. Thanks... Audrey. I'm Allison. Um, if it's worth anything, I heard that out of all of our tests, there's always one that you nearly fail and one that you do perfect on so... we have some time to do better, I suppose."

"And some time to mess up," Audrey added jokingly. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, for sure," Allison said with a smile, waving goodbye as she turned around to talk to her assigned Senior Auror.

* * *

When Audrey walked into the tea shop, she noticed that Percy was already there waiting for her. She inwardly cursed her luck. Audrey had been hoping that she would have arrived first so she could have used the extra time to compose herself. She was quite sure that she had a smudge of dirt on her chin from her test, and she felt extremely out of breath.

But there was no backing out now. Percy had seen her, and was waving to get her attention. Audrey forced a smile and approached the table he was sitting at.

"How was your training today?" Percy asked as he slid a cup of tea towards her. He was still in his work clothes, and Audrey immediately felt self-conscious of the casual muggle attire that she had changed into after training.

 _What is it about those glasses that makes him more attractive?_

 _Audrey! Pull it together!_

Audrey cradled the cup in her hands, enjoying the warmth it spread through her fingertips as she looked into the tinted water to avoid Percy's gaze. "All right. I had a test for concealment today, so that's why I'm a bit dishevelled."

"I didn't notice," Percy said kindly.

Audrey scoffed and looked up from her tea. "Please. I'm not that obtuse," she replied. "Be truthful, or don't say anything at all."

Percy looked taken aback at first, but he quickly recovered and added, "You do have a little something..." he trailed off as he gestured to the right side of his jaw.

He enjoyed that about her. Audrey was almost jarringly honest, which was quite refreshing. However, that didn't mean that she didn't keep things to herself. It just meant that he could trust that whatever she _did_ say would be truthful to a T.

"Ah. Splendid," Audrey muttered. She rubbed at her jaw to get off whatever was there - probably mud. "Merlin, I'm _tired_. My arms feel like jelly."

"And yet, this is what you want to do for the rest of your life?" Percy asked. His tone was jovial, conversational. Kind.

"Of course!" Audrey exclaimed with a smile. "I mean, gruelling training is a small sacrifice compared to the achievement of doing my dream job, don't you think? And I guess it's a little fun, too, when it doesn't stress the hell out of me."

"How do you tell a small sacrifice from a large one, then?" Percy asked in a more somber voice.

Audrey raised an eyebrow and replied, "Well, that's an awfully deep question."

Percy laughed lightly. "Don't get me wrong. I understand your ambition - if anything, I'm exactly the same. It's just that this is sort of a second try at my dream job for me, and the first time around... well, I think I sacrificed too much."

"And you don't want to do that again," Audrey added. Percy nodded and Audrey said with a small shrug, "Well, you can never know when you've sacrificed too much. The only people that see that are the ones that love you. Erin keeps me in check - I just listen to her, really."

"And what if you think you know better?" Percy asked.

"Well, you were certainly over-confident back in the day," Audrey said sarcastically.

"You could say that," Percy replied quietly.

"Listen, everyone makes mistakes," Audrey started. "Some more than others. Some make bigger mistakes. The point is to never repeat them, and from what I can tell, you're doing a fine job of that. And if you're ever a big enough of an idiot to _not_ listen to your family _again_ , then I'll come and give you a big whack upside the head myself to bring you to your senses."

"And how could you possibly know if I'm not listening to my family?" Percy asked, a smile fighting its way onto his face.

"I'm sure I can get George to send me an angry letter if that's the case," Audrey answered. "I trust you, though. I think you're smart enough to not do the same thing all over again."

"Goodness, Audrey, do _you_ do anything wrong?"

Audrey's eyebrows shot up as she said, "Excuse me?"

"I didn't mean - "

"I _know_ what you meant, and I'll gladly let you know that I spent the last twenty years of my life doing _all_ the wrong things," Audrey interrupted. She wasn't angry, or even surprised, that Percy had asked that. She worked hard to maintain an air of excellence, and if people were failing to see her flaws, then that meant she was doing a great job. However, a small part of her had hoped, for some reason, that Percy could see past that.

"You think _you're_ ambitious?" Audrey continued. "Well, you've clearly never seen me when things don't go my way."

"Ambition isn't necessarily a bad thing," Percy said.

"Oh no, but hubris certainly is," Audrey replied. "On my first day back to Auror training, we were practicing deflection. My partner cheated and threw a jinx when it was my turn, and I dodged it instead of using a Protection Charm. My supervisor made a point of announcing that I _barely_ passed and it just... made me so furious. Not that he said I barely passed, but that I couldn't think of a way to deflect the second jinx."

"So you're a perfectionist," Percy reasoned. "I think I can live with that."

Audrey smiled faintly and added, "You know, I had this stupid silent debate with the Sorting Hat in first year. Slytherin or Ravenclaw - I wanted Slytherin."

"Really?" Percy was surprised to hear that. Surely, if he had the choice...

Audrey shrugged. "That was where my family went. That was where my friends were, few as they were. It seemed reasonable."

Now that Percy thought about it, he had a bit of a debate with the Sorting Hat as well. At the mere mention of Ravenclaw, Percy's mind started reeling with the silent exclamations of "Gryffindor!" for the same reasons that Audrey wanted the Hat to shout Slytherin. Perhaps he understood Audrey better than he realized.

Percy smiled and, just like he did that day in January in the tea shop, reached across the table to enclose her hand in his. However, instead of the surprised look that Audrey had on that day, she only smiled lightly. "Well, if you ever get too hubristic," Percy started, "I'll personally make sure you come to your senses. It's the least I can do to return the favour for that whack."

"And how will you ever know if you need to do that?" Audrey asked, mimicking his own question.

"Judging by the nature of hubris, I'm sure I'll hear about it," Percy replied jokingly.

Audrey laughed and said, "I would be honoured to have you bring me to my senses, Percy Weasley."

* * *

Once they had finished their teas, they had prolonged their stay by ordering some biscuits, and by the time they left the tea shop, Diagon Alley was cloaked in darkness. Percy had offered to walk her home, saying something about how unsafe it was to apparate into darkened alleys, and Audrey had happily accepted.

Although she would have been lying to herself if she said it didn't make her feel the least bit... _wrong_.

As far as Audrey was concerned, Percy had a girlfriend, and he would be better off keeping _her_ away from the creeps in filthy London alleys. However, Audrey was also quite good at fooling herself. They were friends, and that was fine and dandy. It _was_ the late nineties, after all. There was no reason that a man and a woman couldn't be _friends_.

"I prefer cold London over hot London, if I'm being perfectly honest," Percy observed as the two of them distanced themselves from the muggle entrance of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Me too," Audrey replied with a smile. "I guess it has something to do with growing up on the Irish coasts. It's always wet and windy."

"And the heat is so suffocating," Percy added as he nodded in agreement.

"I would love to move back to the seaside, one day," Audrey mused. "For now, with Auror training, London is easier. I guess only time will tell if I'll get that opportunity."

"My brother lives on the seaside, with his wife," Percy said. "In Cornwall. It's quite lovely there. Must've been nice to grow up right by the coast."

Audrey smiled faintly as she replied, "It certainly was."

After a few more minutes of walking, some of which were spent in a comfortable silence, Audrey's pace slowed to a stop in front of an old apartment building, weathered by rain and the industrial fumes of Muggle London. She turned to Percy and forced a smile to hide her... whatever she was feeling. Disappointment didn't quite cut it, but Audrey could tell she felt a little... defeated.

 _To hell with 'it's the late nineties,'_ Audrey thought to herself. _I'm bleeding attracted to this idiot, and there's nothing I can do about it._

And when she really put her mind to it, it all made perfect sense. They had similar interests and were both extremely ambitious and studious, so they could easily understand each other. It wasn't just about their similarities, though. Percy was sensible enough to cause a wave of calmness to come over Audrey every time she was with him, and she was daring enough to bring out his outspoken side.

Most importantly, though, Audrey could _talk_ to him. She didn't need to protect him from bad memories, and she didn't need to fear being judged by him. Initially, of course, she had thought he was a bit of a judgemental prat, but perhaps she had confused simple curiosity for biased appraisal, because ever since they had run into each other at Flourish and Blotts, he had been nothing but... understanding. Compassionate.

"What's on your mind?"

Percy's question snapped her out of her self-evaluation, and she immediately felt her face heat up, as if she thought he could read her mind. _Merlin, how old am I? Fourteen?_ Audrey reprimanded herself. _Although, Occlumency Lessons would certainly be a sound investment._

"What makes you think anything's on my mind?" Audrey shot back smartly, her faint smile turning into a smirk.

"It's that look in your eyes. I can practically see the gears turning behind all the..." Percy trailed off suddenly, and his own face started to turn an interesting shade of red.

"All the what?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Um... I was going to say 'behind all the green,'" Percy muttered, "but then I realized how stupid that sounded."

"Well, I've got to agree with you: that is kind of silly," Audrey replied with a cheeky smile, "but it is kind of sweet that you know my eye colour."

 _She really enjoys teasing me_ , Percy observed with a slight smile. Strangely enough, it didn't frustrate him, like when his brothers did it. When Audrey teased him it felt... loving?

 _Merlin, no! Where the hell did that come from?_

Friendly. Yes, it felt friendly. She was a friendly teaser.

"Well, it really stands out, you know," Percy replied. "It's really..."

"Green?" Audrey suggested, following up with amused laughter.

"Merlin, this is embarrassing," Percy muttered with a nervous laugh as his hands fidgeted with the collar of his robes.

In that moment, watching Percy laugh along with her and fidget around nervously, something clicked for Audrey. She felt compelled to do _something_.

Something very, very stupid.

In one swift movement, Audrey had placed her hands on Percy's shoulders and her lips against his. The moment she felt his lips pushing back against hers, Audrey stayed true to her course. Percy kissed her in an oddly numbing way, his hands moving to her waist to pull her closer. Audrey felt her heart race in excitement, then slow down in the comfort of it all, only to speed back up again and repeat the cycle.

However, Audrey's mind was not as focused as she would have believed. Soon enough, the logical part of her brain, quickly growing smaller, politely reminded her of the ugly truth of the situation.

 _Ahem. That is a taken man, you bint._

Audrey immediately jumped a good foot away from Percy, her hands going to her chest to make sure that her heart was still there. Finally finding her voice, Audrey stuttered out, "I'm so sorry! Bloody hell – I swear – I'm not – oh, Merlin, I'm _horrible_. I swear I'm not some homewrecking slag. Good grief – I'm so sorry, honestly. Let's pretend it never happened."

Percy's brow furrowed in confusion. "Homewrecking... what are you talking about?"

"I know you have a girlfriend, and I should have never done that," Audrey rambled, "I'm _so sorry_. I can even Obliviate you, if you like."

"What? Audrey, stop – sweet Merlin," Percy said, trying to make sense of her words. "I _don't_ have a girlfriend."

"Charms aren't my strong suit, but – wait," Audrey cut herself off abruptly and gave Percy a perplexed look. _He's... single?_ "You don't – but... so, you're telling me that you don't have a girlfriend?"

"No," Percy answered with a laugh. "Why did you think that?"

"Oh, for the love of Helga…" Audrey groaned. "I'm so bloody embarrassed."

Audrey was not known to make silly, frivolous assumptions about people, and especially not about their relationship statuses. She was a straightforward, occasionally investigatory, and mature woman - not some rash and perhaps slightly jealous _girl_. Moreover, Audrey had something of a moral code, despite being a Slytherin. Even if Percy didn't have a girlfriend, what kind of person did that make her if she was willing to kiss a bloke that she thought was in a relationship? She didn't even want to know what he thought of her now.

"Audrey – "

"No!" Audrey shouted as she turned away from Percy and started heading for the apartment building. "I don't want to hear one more word about this! It's so bleeding _humiliating_. Just leave it. Good night."

"But – "

"Good night!"

As Percy watched Audrey enter the apartment building in a frenzied rush, he muttered to himself, "I was just going to say that was a damned good kiss."

That woman would be the death of him.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, and if you get the chance to review, thank you for that, too! I want to say thank you to some of the people that have kindly been reviewing (and helping me improve) this story: Summer Leigh Wind, TwiBeams, nymphxdora, and ChatterChick! :) Lots of heart-shaped cookies for all of you!**


	16. Think Happy Thoughts

_16\. Think Happy Thoughts_

* * *

Audrey was lazily scrambling eggs in a pan when the door to Erin's bedroom swung open and a _very_ tired French-Irish witch dragged her feet to the kitchen. Audrey raised an eyebrow at her as she jumped up on the kitchen countertop with a heavy sigh.

"You're up early for a change," Erin muttered. "Ham and eggs, I suppose? Only damn thing you can cook."

"Certainly better than your watered-down porridge," Audrey replied. "You're awfully cheery."

"You don't say?" Erin said sarcastically. Then, she buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated groan. "Merlin, I hate this time of year! We keep going up to Banff late at night to practice flying over water and it's all I can do not to off myself. I swear my legs are going raw from being on a broom so damn much."

"Yeah, really loving the vivid imagery, there," Audrey muttered with a frown. She divided the eggs in the pan between two plates, and handed one of the plates and a fork to a grumbling Erin. "You'd be lying if you said you didn't like it, though, am I right?"

"Yeah, you are," Erin admitted with a sigh as she grabbed the plate from Audrey and dug into her breakfast. " _Zut_ , I couldn't imagine going on living without flying nearly every day. Anyways, cheerier subject matter: how was your date?"

"It wasn't a date, Erin."

"Mhm, I'm sure," Erin said with a wink, which only caused Audrey to roll her eyes. "I get why you like him."

Audrey's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?"

"No, you misunderstand me, Miss Callaghan: I get why _you_ like him," Erin clarified. Audrey sent her a glare and Erin only laughed as she added, "Merlin, I thought only you could read rubbish that boring, but I guess I was wrong."

"It wasn't a date," Audrey repeated firmly. "At least I thought it wasn't, because, well... I honestly thought he had a girlfriend. But he doesn't."

"Knowing you, you probably outright asked him in the first five minutes of the date if he has one," Erin joked. "Or, sorry, not date. Whatever it is you two got up to."

Audrey bit her lip nervously before replying, "I did worse than that."

"Worse?" Erin asked, raising an eyebrow in interest.

"Literally jumped on him and snogged him."

"My, my, you're a fiesty one, Miss Callaghan," her friend teased.

"Then, I blubbered like an idiot about being a homewrecker and offered to Obliviate him before he finally caught on and told me he didn't have a girlfriend."

"And then...?" Erin coaxed.

"And then I ran the hell away."

"You're a right idiot, Audrey."

"Don't I know it."

* * *

Audrey leaned her back against the wall of the duelling room with a sigh, her conversation with Erin still fresh in her mind. She _was_ an idiot. What was the point in running away, anyways? He probably didn't think she was a horrible person at all, and Audrey was just letting her imagination run wild. She had always been a little to hard on herself, after all.

 _I mean, do I even **like** him, or is it just -_

"Excuse me?" a voice called, snapping Audrey out of her thoughts. She turned to see two familiar faces looking at her quizzically.

In that moment, their faces were _unfortunately_ familiar.

Audrey turned her head towards the voice to see a young black-haired man with round glasses, who she quickly recognized as Harry Potter, standing next to his redheaded friend, Ron Weasley.

 _Great_ , Audrey thought to herself sourly. _This is exactly what I need right now._

"I was just debating with Ron here if we know you or not," Harry explained. "Did you go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes, I did," Audrey answered. "A couple years ahead of the two of you, though, so it's not too surprising that you don't recognize me."

"I do, though," Ron said. "I could have sworn I'd seen you around with... with my twin brothers."

Audrey nervously bit on the inside of her cheek, thinking of the most sensible way to reply. _Percy would have come up with a reply in a jiff_ , Audrey thought absentmindedly. _He can be quite diplomatic._

 _Whoa_ , she thought to herself in a warning tone, _let's keep the Percy thoughts at bay._

"Yes, I knew them," she finally replied. "They had a knack for causing trouble, and trouble had a knack for finding me."

"That just about describes them," Ron said with a small laugh. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Audrey," she answered with a strained smile. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to regroup with my year."

"Of course, sorry for keeping you," Harry said with a nod.

Audrey walked away from the pair and tried to shake the conversation out of her mind, although she was quite happy with how it went. No mention of her last name meant no recoiling, and she just _knew_ that Ron and Harry wouldn't have been that friendly if they remembered that she was a Slytherin. It seemed that maybe she could escape that silly stigma after all.

"You look as pale as a ghost," Allison muttered from next to her.

Audrey let out a rather unflattering snort. "Wow, I'm touched. Best compliment I've heard all day." Her fellow trainee only snickered at her sarcasm, and that was enough to put a faint but genuine smile on Audrey's face.

Soon enough, the supervisor for the year one trainees, Edward Connell, strode into the room and got everyone's attention, the room lulling into a curious silence.

"Since we have three years of Auror trainees all in one room, we've decided to touch on something you all have plenty of knowledge on by now: Patronuses," Connell started. "Now, the Patronus Charm is not only useful for keeping Dementors away, but also for sending messages, so it is especially useful for Aurors to use in case of emergencies. Today, we'll briefly talk about different kinds of Corporeal Patronuses, and then we'll practice non-verbal casting and sending messages."

Connell paused and glanced around the room, as if he could gauge everyone's understanding by how glassy their eyes were, before continuing.

"Now, let's have one person from each year cast one, shall we?" he proposed. "We'll make comments on the strength, and the body that you cast as lesson. So, from year one, you there – Dunbar, correct? Yes, and year two... ah, you! I can't quite see your nametag... Callaghan! All right, and from year three, we'll have Eastchurch."

Audrey winced when she saw Connell point her way. This was not what she wanted to be doing - not in the slightest. Audrey was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to cast a Patronus anymore, nor had she even tried since the war had ended. Slytherins were often short on happy memories to start with, and the one memory that brought a genuine smile to her face had been... tarnished. Just thinking about it in that moment made Audrey feel a painful pang in her chest.

 _"Ha! Got you Audie!"_

 _Audrey stuck her tongue out in disgust as she tasted the salty, algae-tinged seawater that her younger brother splashed towards her. She could hear Erin giggling somewhere behind her, and Audrey crossed her arms with a huff._

 _The sky was a vibrant blue, with fluffy clouds of a startling white colour calmly rolling across it. The sun shone so brightly down on the beach behind her family's estate that Audrey could practically feel her skin growing redder by the second._

 _"Some way to treat me on **my** special day, Brady!" she shouted, but it was only in mock anger._

 _The three children were celebrating Audrey getting her acceptance letter from Hogwarts, and enjoying one of the last few days that they would have together until winter holidays. With Erin being shipped off to France, and Brady staying right at home, Audrey wouldn't see hide nor hair of either of them for months. In that particular moment, with Audrey's stomach full of ice cream and cake, she was just happy to have her best friend and her brother with her - even if it meant ingesting gross seawater._

 _"Then you better fight back, huh?" Brady taunted. "Or are you **scared**? Audie's scared! Audie's scared! Audie's - !"_

 _Before Brady could continue his little war chant, Audrey splashed seawater right at his face, and Brady stumbled backwards as he let out a sound halfway between a gurgle and a yelp. Erin's giggling escalated to hysteric laughter as Audrey stood triumphantly before her brother, with her hands on her hips._

 _"How's that for scared, Brady?" she asked with a smirk._

 _Brady suddenly dipped below the water and came up behind Audrey, jumping on her back with a scream that sounded a lot like a battle cry. Audrey let out a frustrated groan as her younger brother laughed at her misfortune._

 _"I guess this one's a draw between the Callaghan siblings," Erin decided, wading her way to where Audrey was now struggling against her younger brother's iron grip. "You two are a couple of loonies."_

 _Audie_. That was what her brother had called her when he had first started speaking, unable to properly pronounce her name. The nickname stuck until he had started his first year, and some idiot third year hanging around Audrey had corrected him, unbeknownst to the fact that Brady was her own brother. After that, 'Audie' was only used at home.

The memory still brought a smile to her face, but it was quickly wiped away by the fact that it was highly unlikely she would ever hear her brother's laugh again. She couldn't even think about that memory anymore without her parents' dead bodies flashing before her eyes.

"All right, Callaghan - you're up!" Connell's voice broke through her thoughts. Audrey was hoping he would have forgotten he had called on her.

"Can I not, sir?" Audrey replied.

A startled expression clouded Connell's face, as if she had just insulted his mother. "Excuse me?"

 _Merlin, he's thick_ , Audrey thought with a sigh. "It's just... I don't think I _can_ ," she clarified. "Happy thoughts and all. A lot of us are short on those, nowadays."

In her peripheral vision, Audrey could see Allison give her a concerned look and nearly snapped at her to stop it. She hated it when people did that. It's not like she was some sick puppy. _Why can't they all just be great listeners, like Percy?_

 _Damn it, Audrey. Again with the Percy thoughts._

"Oh, I see," Connell said quietly. "Well, what's the harm in trying, right? Just give it a shot."

Realizing that there would be no way out of her situation, Audrey stepped forward and stood in front of the trainees. She thought to the memory on the beach with Brady and Erin and tried her hardest to focus on the feeling and not the people that made her feel that way. She performed the wand movements and cast a non-verbal Patronus Charm.

Oh, the Patronus came out, all right. It was a small, weak little thing, though. Her once strong and bright bobcat was looking a bit dim and even frightened.

 _This is so embarrassing,_ Audrey thought as her eyes fluttered shut and she took a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself.

"There you go! Certainly not strong, but you cast it, Miss Callaghan!" Connell praised, his cheery tone a little bit strained. "Now, a bobcat is a very interesting animal. Cunning, yet playful. Thank you very much, Callaghan. Eastchurch, please come up..."

Audrey tuned out the rest of Connell's ramblings, and the rest of the lesson. When everyone branched off into pairs to practice sending messages, Allison kindly offered to do all of the practicing and promptly added, "I'm not going to try to force any meek, little bobcats out of you, like that nutter."

Audrey was grateful that she at least had a friend to soften the blow of her never-ending humiliation. First, impulsive snogging. Second, weak Patronuses. Audrey could not catch a break.

* * *

Once the lesson ended, there was nothing Audrey wanted to do more than leave the Auror Office, go home, bury her head in a pillow, and scream until her throat started bleeding.

The only way Audrey had been able to get through her day-to-day activities without curling up into a ball and crying was by keeping her mind far away from Brady and her parents. It was a lot easier to do than it sounded, seeing as she didn't even live in Ireland anymore. Moreover, Auror training combined with chatting mindlessly with Erin did a good job of keeping her mind busy.

On that day, however, Audrey was forced to face something she had not faced in months, and she had yet to settle down from it. Her hands were still trembling slightly, her breathing was ragged, and her heart pounded violently against her ribcage. She felt like talking, saying _something_ , but there was no one to turn to, and she wasn't even sure if the words would come.

"Audrey?"

The soft voice broke her out of her thoughts, and Audrey realized she had stopped walking and leaned a hand against the wall to take a break and attempt to steady her breathing. When she looked up at the person, Audrey wasn't sure if she was relieved or even more agitated.

"Oh," Audrey let out quietly. "Percy. Hello."

 _Percy. I can talk to him._

"Are you all right? You look a little under the weather," Percy observed as he took a few steps closer to her and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

Percy was a little shocked that he found Audrey stopped in the middle of a hallway, looking pale and frightened, even though he came to the Auror Office looking for her. He had found himself unable to sleep the previous night, his mind reeling with all sorts of confusing thoughts, all about Audrey. Percy hadn't been able to get any rest until he finally decided that he would seek her out the next day to tell her, once and for all, that he couldn't _just_ be friends with her.

"I'm... No," Audrey started. _Just be honest._ She took a deep breath and turned to face Percy before continuing, "I'm not all right, and I know I kind of made things very confusing between us, but is there any chance you could possibly forget it for about ten minutes so I can... so I can just talk to someone. I'm sorry, I just - "

"Yes," Percy interrupted. "That's not a problem at all."

Audrey stared at him in mild shock for a moment, but then everything spilled out of her mouth like a gigantic waterfall of information. Everything from the Patronus lesson in her training class, to her rubbish memory, to how hard she tried to avoid any thoughts of her family. By the end of it, though, Percy stepped forward to wrap his arms around her and Audrey could slowly feel her heat rate slowing down and her breathing becoming steady.

"Merlin, I'm sorry," Audrey said into his shoulder. "I'm keeping you from your work."

"No, I finished work early today. I actually came to talk to you, anyways," Percy replied.

Audrey stepped back and both of their arms dropped to their sides as she looked up at Percy in shock. "What?"

"Yes, well, I'll have you know that I had a bloody difficult time getting to sleep last night," Percy started. "And I realized that your confusion yesterday was partially my fault. I didn't really clarify that that was supposed to be a date, did I?"

"Uh, no..." Audrey replied quietly, although she was quite sure that the question was rhetorical.

"Well, in that case, I'll be outright about it," Percy concluded. "Perhaps a lunch this time? Whatever we'll be having, it will be a date."

Audrey blinked in surprise, and she felt her jaw drop slightly. She really couldn't believe that she was hearing right.

"Audrey?"

"Oh! Right! Well, of - "

 _BOOM!_

Audrey felt herself flying backwards, hitting the opposite wall of the hallway with a loud thud. Her vision was clouded by a bright light, dust, and debris, and her ears were ringing. She blinked a few times, trying to get her eyes to work better, and she saw Percy a few feet away from her, his hand pressing on his forehead. He took notice of Audrey once she moved herself closer to him and grabbed his hand. She wasn't sure if she did it to reassure herself that _she_ was alive, or that _he_ was alive, but feeling Percy's warm hand in her own helped clear her mind.

Soon enough, Audrey's mind was clear enough for her to acknowledge that something was very, very wrong.

* * *

 **Well, things can't just go _easy_ for them! Anyways, please do let me know what you thought - I have rewritten this chapter so many times that I can practically recite it.**


	17. Complications

_17\. Complications_

* * *

Percy helped Audrey stand up as soon as he felt her hand grasping his. They helped steady each other amongst the rubble, and quickly pulled out their wands.

Once the dust cleared enough to reveal the culprits, Audrey let out a scoff and exclaimed, "Seriously? This nonsense again?"

Standing before them was a group of cloaked and masked figures. Their outfits were eerily and unfortunately similar to the garb worn by Death Eaters.

Most likely, though, they were one and the same.

"Expelliarmus!"

Percy's Disarming Charm brought Audrey back to her senses, and she quickly moved to do the same to one of the other Death Eaters. Unfortunately, he - or she? - managed to sidestep the Charm and sent a nasty-looking curse her way, which Audrey quickly deflected. She heard the scuffling of shoes and saw other Aurors rushing to the site of the explosion to help, but Audrey was already far too deep into her duel with the rogue Death Eater before her.

He - Audrey was going to go with 'he' for all intents and purposes - was quite a good dueller, but it was evident that he lacked practice. The Death Eater chose to sidestep or dodge her hexes instead of deflecting them, like Audrey often did, suggesting that his Protection Charm wasn't very strong.

Audrey tried to use that to her advantage by casting the nastiest hexes she could muster.

"Blood traitor!" the Death Eater shouted. The voice was high-pitched and scratchy, and Audrey assumed that there was actually a woman under that mask.

"Merlin, your insults are getting old," Audrey shouted back, following up with a jinx.

"I _loved_ torturing your parents!"

Audrey froze in the middle of casting her next non-verbal spell, and that was all the time the woman needed to send a curse her way. Audrey was hit in the shoulder, causing her to stumble back and nearly lose her balance. She felt the injured spot stinging, burning, and when Audrey reached a hand up to inspect the damage, her shirt felt damp and warm.

"Audrey!" Percy called, his eyes focused on her injury.

So focused that he didn't see the spell heading his way.

"Protego!" Audrey shouted as she scrambled towards Percy, stopping the spell from hitting him. "Watch your own fight, Percy," she ordered as she deflected a curse from her own opponent. "I trust you. You've gotta trust me."

Audrey returned to sending horrendous spells towards the masked woman, trying to ignore her taunting, but the words haunted Audrey's mind.

"Your father was a traitorous spy! He sweet-talked all sorts of secrets out of us, the scoundrel _deserved_ it."

"What the bleeding hell are you talking about?" Audrey demanded, trying her hardest to find out whatever the woman knew without letting her guard down.

"You didn't know? He was spying for the Order! You don't - agh!"

Audrey used the woman's moment of gloating to speed towards her and shove her to the ground, grabbing her wand and throwing it out of reach. Audrey held her forearm down across the woman's collarbone to keep her restrained and demanded, "What else do you know? Tell me!"

"Your - your brother! We kidnapped him and took him back to Hogwarts," the woman spat out. "Isolated him from outside contact. He stayed behind to fight for the mudbloods when the Dark Lord came. Probably _dead_."

Audrey stupefied the woman as soon as she finished talking, with one haunting thought in her mind.

 _But what if he isn't dead?_

 _No time for that_ , Audrey thought to herself, although the voice sounded more like her father's. _Always keep your mind clear, no matter what._

Audrey turned and took the fight to another Death Eater, stupefying him from behind as he duelled another Auror. Soon enough, there were more conscious Aurors than conscious Death Eaters, and the fighting dwindled.

And just as the duelling start to fade away, so did Audrey's rush of adrenaline. Suddenly, her injury changed from an annoying tingle to a searing agony. She heard herself cry out, but the voice didn't sound like hers - it was strangled and quivering.

Audrey saw Percy heading towards her as her vision turned blurry, and then she was engulfed in complete darkness.

* * *

 _Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap._

"Waa..."

"Ah, she wakes," a voice observed. Audrey opened her eyes, and after a momentary blindness, they landed on a woman in lime green robes sitting at a desk next to her bed. She held a quill in her hand, and the desk was cluttered with parchment.

"Water," Audrey breathed out.

The woman - a Healer, judging by the robes - stood up and brought a glass to Audrey's lips. Audrey grabbed the glass from her and chugged the water in a manner that would have earned one hell of a chiding from her mother.

"I'm afraid to say that your injury was from Dark Magic," the Healer said. "It'll leave behind a nasty scar, but you'll live. At least it wasn't your wand arm."

Audrey nodded and looked down at her shoulder, which was wrapped in layer upon layer of bandages. Just by looking at it, remembering how she got it, the pain seemed to be revived and it made her wince.

"We gave you some Blood-Replenishing Potion - you lost quite a bit - so you might be feeling a bit light-headed, but other than that, you'll just need some rest," the Healer continued.

With newfound strength, Audrey swung her legs over the side of her bed and planted her feet on the cold floor. "I'm going for a walk," she stated as she slipped the hospital shoes next to the bed onto her feet.

"Oh, I don't think that's - "

Audrey stood up. "I'm walking."

She turned and exited her hospital room as the Healer sighed in resignation. Audrey's stubbornness tended to have that effect on people. As soon as she exited the room, Audrey's eyes landed on Daphne Greengrass, waiting to greet her with a worried frown on her face. Audrey immediately felt a surge of anger.

"Daphne, you bigoted _idiot_!"

Audrey leapt forward and grabbed Daphne's shoulders. She looked threateningly into the younger witch's eyes, ignoring the strange feeling of nausea that was hitting the back of her throat - her anger far surpassed it. Daphne's brown eyes widened in fear and regret, as if she already knew what Audrey was going to say.

"How could you not tell me Brady was alive?" Audrey exclaimed. "What the bloody hell is _wrong_ with you?"

"Audrey, please, I didn't know he was kidnapped, honestly," Daphne explained. "I thought he just wanted to return early to Hogwarts. You know how he was, never telling anyone his problems. I didn't realize something was wrong for _months_. Only when the battle started, and he was duelling one of the Carrows at one point - "

"Then why didn't you say something in the summer, you _stupid_ girl!" Audrey shouted.

Tears welled up in Daphne's eyes as she managed to squeak out, "I didn't see him after, so I - I thought he died. I'm sorry Audrey, really."

Audrey let out a shaky breath and slowly pulled Daphne into a hug as tears started flowing down the younger girl's cheeks. Audrey instantly felt horrible for yelling at the Daphne. She could be irritating and close-minded, but she was a family friend, and she never meant any harm towards Audrey. Besides, after what Gemma had told her about Daphne regretting their conversation in the summer, Audrey felt a pang of sympathy for the younger witch. "I'm sorry for shouting," Audrey said quietly. "How'd you already hear about all of this?"

"Gemma," Daphne answered. "She's someone's assistant in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

Audrey should have thought of that. Even after all these years, Gemma looked after her and Daphne.

"Merlin, can you believe she's dating Marcus Flint?" Daphne said suddenly.

"I _know_ ," Audrey replied. "Downright ridicolous. I mean, Gemma is _really_ smart, and Marcus..."

"Failed a year," Daphne supplied with a laugh.

"Exactly," Audrey said quietly. With one last gentle pat on the back, she stepped away from Daphne and said, "I'm still disappointed that you didn't tell me _anything_ about Brady. I had no idea where he was, Daphne."

"I'm sorry, I just - I didn't want to talk about him being dead," she replied, wiping the tears off her face. When she looked up at Audrey, her eyes widened in shock, "Do you think he's alive?"

Audrey sighed. "Hell, if I know. I've been asking myself the same thing. Just go home, Daphne," she said. "If you really want, I'll let you know if I find out anything."

Daphne nodded and declared that she had some other matters to attend to anyways before waving goodbye and leaving the hospital.

Audrey took a deep breath before turning and shuffling her feet along the tiles of the hallway. She didn't get very far when Percy had suddenly exited a room and stopped in front of her.

"You're fine," Percy observed, but his tone was filled with relief. It sounded like the statement was meant more for his own sanity than just a general declaration of knowledge.

"Yes," Audrey said as she nodded. "It'll scar, Dark Magic does that, but I'm fine."

"Good," Percy said, a weak smile coming to his face. "Listen, we - "

Suddenly, the door to the unit burst open, and both Percy and Audrey turned to see who was causing the commotion. Percy quickly recognized his mother leading the pack that consisted of Bill, George, and Ron.

"Percy!" Molly exclaimed as she barrelled into him, her arms immediately encircling him in a tight embrace. "I was worried sick when I got the Floo call!"

"I'm fine - "

"What were you doing in the Auror Office, mate?" Ron asked.

"Just some - "

"Hospital gowns are really your style, Audrey."

Everyone ceased their fussing over Percy to turn towards George with perplexed looks, then to the brunette woman that he had addressed. Audrey had one hand on her hip, the one connected to her injured shoulder - her left hand - hanging limply by her side.

"Har har, George," she replied sarcastically, her eyes narrowing at an amused George Weasley. "So bleeding original."

"And were you there with Percy, then?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He did say you see each other at work."

Audrey opened her mouth to answer, but Percy beat her to it by saying, "Yes, we're acquainted."

For the second time in just five minutes, Audrey felt a surge of indignation. _Acquainted? Bloody **acquainted**?_ she fumed to herself. _What am I, a sodding pen pal? How does this idiot go from "Oh, Audrey, please date me!" to "We're **acquainted** ," anyway?_

Audrey stood in her spot, her face contorted into an expression that could possibly only be described as murderous, if George's extreme amusement was anything to go by. Soon after, a Healer came to escort the Weasley family out of the hospital unit and asked them to remain in the waiting area.

Once they left, Percy turned to Audrey and started, "Anyways, as I was saying - "

"Spare me," Audrey snapped. "We're just acquaintances, right?"

Audrey stormed back towards her room and plopped down on her bed with a frustrated groan. She tried to push Percy's hurt and regretful expression out of her mind, as hard as it was, and instead focus on her investigation into Brady's disappearance. She racked her mind, trying to brainstorm places he might have escaped to after the Battle of Hogwarts, when the memory came hurtling at the forefront of her thoughts like an avalanche.

 _Audrey's mother - Lucille on her birth certificate, Lucy to anyone that liked living - pushed aside her plate of breakfast and tore open the envelope beside her with evident excitement. She quickly pulled out the letter and started skimming over it. "Oh, this is so lovely..." she murmured._

 _"Mum?" Audrey asked._

 _Lucille's head snapped up as she got pulled out of whatever stupor she was in. "Your Aunt Camille sent a letter," she replied with a small smile, "and photos! Her and Daveth are in Germany now."_

 _Lucille first turned to her husband, photo clutched in hand, but he refused to look up from his plate. With a dejected look on her face, she turned to her other side and passed the photo to Brady. He looked every bit like Audrey, with the same signature dark brown hair and upturned nose that Audrey had, but inherited their mother's brown eyes and their father's height. Once Audrey got the photo, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Camille and Daveth were standing in the middle of a cobblestone street, eagerly waving at the camera and holding steins of beer._

 _"It looks beautiful," Audrey said in amazement._

 _"I don't think they should have left," her father said stonily. "Not now."_

 _Lucille's cheery smile faltered for a moment, and Audrey could tell her mother was trying hard to remain calm. Her father had been in the worst of moods since he gave his resignation to the Auror Office to go into hiding. Even though he knew that it was for the best to remain neutral, that didn't change the fact that he loved his job._

 _Audrey couldn't blame him. She had been in a similarly bad mood ever since she ceased her Auror training._

 _"Brennan, please, you know how things will get soon," Lucille said quietly as Audrey passed her the photo. "Daveth's a muggle-born. It's not that easy."_

 _"Hey, mum, I've been meaning to ask something," Brady started with a cautious tone. "Why wasn't Aunt Camille disowned? I mean, I love her, don't get me wrong, but if anyone merely says the name Andromeda near Draco, he goes into a right fit about the consequences of marrying filth, or something like that. I'm just... curious. That's all."_

 _Brennan looked up in shock at Brady's question, but then he turned to Lucille with an eyebrow raised. "Do you want to explain, Lucy?" he asked._

 _Lucille narrowed her eyes at her husband before turning to Brady and replying, "When your Aunt Camille was nineteen, she found out that she couldn't have children, and our father..." she trailed off as her face contorted into a frown, as if she was trying to choose her next words very carefully. "Our father thought this **liberated** her from her duties to our family, so he didn't particularly... **care** who she married. Camille didn't marry Daveth to rebel - that's just who she loved. That's just how it worked out."_

 _"Oh," Brady said quietly. Then, he added, "We should visit them. Not now, of course, but when all of this is over. Germany would be a nice place to wait for the dust to settle."_

 _"You sound like you think this is going to end soon," Audrey said with a scoff. "It's hardly started."_

 _Brady scowled at her. "It's called being proactive, Audrey. Clearly, I didn't just get all of the good looks in the family."_

 _Audrey rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but agree with Brady. Germany sounded nice right about then._

Her aunt and uncle's house in Germany would be a start. Aunt Camille always loved Audrey and Brady to bits, and she would have kept Brady's whereabouts a secret if he had asked that of her. Not that it made any sense for him to do that, but Audrey was trying to hold out hope.

She only wished it wasn't false hope.

"Audrey!"

The shout of her name dispersed Audrey's thoughts and when she looked up, she saw Erin hurtling towards her with her arms outstretched. Audrey winced as she felt a pressure being placed on her shoulder, but kept herself from protesting.

"Thank _Merlin_ you're okay!" Erin exclaimed as she stepped away from Audrey. "You know, they tried to keep me from coming in here. Something about having to finish paperwork, yadda yadda yadda. Honestly, I'm your emergency contact."

Audrey chuckled at Erin's annoyance. "I'm happy to see you here, but please keep it down. My head is _pounding_."

"Je m'excuse," Erin said meekly. "Anyways, I heard you helped take down three rogue Death Eaters. _Nice_."

"Yeah, what's _not_ nice is the scar I'm going to get from this stupid Dark Magic injury," Audrey grumbled. "Oh well. I guess I can just tell people that they should see the other guy. Or, you know, the other three guys."

"That's the spirit, Audrey!" Erin exclaimed. "Listen, my Portkey for practice leaves in about fifteen minutes, and apparently I'm not allowed to take you home quite yet, so I'll see you this evening, ouais?"

Audrey nodded. "Sounds good."

"Don't try apparating in your state," Erin ordered. "Oh, and your supervisor - mean looking guy with lots of scars on his arms - said, in these exact words - " Erin paused to place her hands on her hips and a poor attempt at a mean frown on her face before continuing, "'If I knew all it would take to get a lead on Death Eaters inside the Ministry was leave Callaghan standing in the middle of a hallway, I would've done it _ages_ ago! Oh, and tell her she has the next week off.'"

"Aye aye, captain," Audrey replied with a mocking salute.

Erin gave her a playful pout and a wink before turning to leave the hospital room. Audrey let herself fall back on her bed with a heavy sigh, her head spinning with more thoughts than she could handle.

One, impulsive snogging.

Two, weak Patronuses.

Three, impromptu Death Eater attack.

Four, demoted from possible girlfriend to acquaintance.

Why Audrey even bothered keeping count was beyond her.

* * *

 **Clearly, Audrey has it rough. Please leave your thoughts on this chapter in a review! :)**


	18. Lunches and Drinks

_18\. Lunches and Drinks_

* * *

The Floo Network was Audrey's most convenient way of getting in touch with her Aunt Camille.

She noted this with a little distaste. It certainly wasn't her _favourite_ form of communication, and Floo powder didn't come cheap, but an owl would take _ages_ to get all the way to Rügen Island. As for apparition, not only was Audrey in no shape to remember her "Three D's" with all of the drowsiness that she was getting from her Healer-prescribed potions since the incident, but cross-border apparition was a no-go. And then the last option, a portkey, would be just as bad for her drowsiness.

So, Floo call it was. Unfortunately, that meant going to the Ministry to set up a connection.

However, Audrey wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to stretch her legs. She hated being cooped up at home, and while she was only forty-eight hours into her house arrest, she didn't think she could last another minute. As short as her walk to the Ministry and back may have been, at least it was a _walk_. Not a _sit-on-the-couch-and-do-nothing_.

" _What were you doing out?_ "

Audrey groaned as she shut the door behind her and met Erin's threatening gaze. Erin had taken it upon herself to oversee Audrey's house arrest since the incident, and as irritating as it was, Audrey wasn't really _upset_ by it. She was a little touched, actually, that Erin cared so deeply for her safety. They had both lost their families and they only had each other, after all. Audrey couldn't even imagine how scared Erin must have been when she received the owl about the attack at the Ministry.

"Stretching my legs," Audrey replied as she shrugged off her coat and unravelled her scarf. "You don't want my muscles to atrophy, do you?"

Maybe it wasn't her smartest decision in the world, but Audrey had resolved to not tell Erin about her hunt for Brady. Erin might as well have been Brady's second sister, and Audrey didn't want to build up some false hope that he was still alive, only to have it crushed. As much as Audrey hoped her younger brother was alive, she was also a pessimist, and she preferred to keep her very expressive friend out of the ordeal for as long as possible.

"Don't be so overdramatic," Erin scolded, her anger reducing to irritation. "So long as you're not out trying to get work done somehow."

"And how would I do that?" Audrey asked as she let herself fall onto the couch in their living room.

"No feat is too mighty for my dear cunning friend," Erin said as she sat down next to Audrey. And finally, the irritation dissipated into a mild exasperation.

"Well, if you're so keen on knowing my whereabouts at all times, I do have to go out again later," Audrey reminded. "I have that lunch with Daphne and Gemma."

"Somehow, I have a feeling that Gemma is a lot worse than me."

* * *

Gemma _was_ a lot worse than Erin. This was something that Audrey bitterly remembered when she arrived at the tea shop in Diagon Alley to see only Daphne waiting inside.

Audrey looked at her watch. One in the afternoon. That was when Gemma had said to meet, and she was a stickler for punctuality.

 _What a sneaky Slytherin_ , Audrey thought to herself, half in annoyance and half in admiration, as she strode into the tea shop and sat across from Daphne. The younger witch looked up with a slightly startled expression, but her features calmed when she realized that Audrey wasn't going to jump at her again.

Probably.

"Gemma did say one, and she's never late," Daphne offered meekly. "Maybe she's being held up."

"Or maybe she did it on purpose," Audrey countered in a dismissive tone. "Well, I suppose we can't waste away her efforts. I want you to know that I am sorry for overreacting. It was, in equal parts, due to my grief and the many potions I had in my system."

Daphne nodded lightly before saying, "I'm sorry for what I said in the summer. You had every reason to sell the estate, and I shouldn't have judged you for it. It's just... so hard to turn over a new leaf. To start a different life. We're Slytherins, and we're all about that self-preservation, right?"

Audrey nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get that. Just thinking about all of my shenanigans at school... they were all for some selfish reason."

"But you've changed _so much_!" Daphne suddenly exclaimed. "You're _nothing_ like that anymore! You're brave and fearless. I mean, that's not to say you weren't before, but now it's such a big part of who you are. Honestly, part of the reason I said that was... well, I was jealous. You weren't afraid to dive head-first into the new world. You left behind that self-preservation attitude like nobody's business."

Audrey was _shocked_. She never thought that she was _brave_. She certainly didn't do anything with that intention, but what was she _supposed_ to do when the war ended? Sit around and hope that things went her way?

Audrey briefly remembered a conversation she had with her father the summer that the Ministry fell to Voldemort. She had asked him to promise that the traditions - from the courting parties to the networking dinners - would end with her and Brady once the war was over. He had agreed, so as far as Audrey was concerned, she was just holding true to the promise she made with her father.

"I haven't entirely given up on self-preservation," Audrey added in a quiet attempt at modesty. "I still like to pretend I'm the best at everything."

"Well, you know, everything in moderation," Daphne said with a small laugh.

"Now, was that so hard?"

Audrey and Daphne looked up at the person that had stopped in front of their table. It was, of course, Gemma. She took her seat with the proudest and most patronizing smirk Audrey had ever seen.

The two younger witches seemed to roll their eyes at the same time at Gemma's boasting, which only made Gemma erupt into bouts of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, keep it together, would you?" Audrey said dismissively. "Didn't your mother ever teach you proper table manners?"

"Cute. Very cute," Gemma praised sarcastically. "Now, who wants to split a club sandwich with me while we listen to Audrey tell us how exactly she came to be so close with Percy Weasley?"

Audrey groaned and let her forehead rest on the table as Daphne stared at her with wide, startled eyes and Gemma continued to laugh at her expense. It would be a _long_ lunch.

* * *

"Morning, Perce!" George greeted as he let Percy into his flat. "Fancy a cup of coffee?"

"No, thank you," Percy replied. "Can I just…" He trailed off as he grabbed George's coffee mug out of his hands.

George fixed him with an amused stare as Percy inspected the liquid in the mug. Black. Smelled like coffee - not firewhiskey, or any other kind of alcohol. Impressive.

"Are you quite done inspecting my coffee like it's on bloody trial?" George asked impatiently.

Percy looked up at his brother with a raised eyebrow and handed the mug back. "You can't really blame me, can you?"

"No, you always were an annoying git."

"Yes, of course. I'm glad you remember," Percy agreed sarcastically. "Let's just get downstairs so I can help you with the shop."

George nodded, a pleased smirk on his face, and led the way into the shop. Percy was glad that George had accepted his offer of help. He tried extending a helping hand to Molly, of course, but she had just kept demanding that he sit down and have a cup of tea, and Percy simply could not do that. He had to keep himself busy _somehow_.

And that _somehow_ came in the form of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

The shop was, for the most part, fully repaired at that point. Everything had been rebuilt, fresh paint and wallpaper had been put up, new carpeting had been installed, and there were even a few hidden hallways added between sections of the store, just for the sake of adding some fun to the place. All that was left was setting up a few metal stands and putting out the products.

"So, acquaintances, huh?" George started as he tore open boxes holding new products. "That's quite the acquaintance you've got there, Percy."

"You're a wizard, you know?" Percy commented as George started to pull out products and place them on shelves. Despite this, he started tearing open a box as well. "You have a wand and everything."

"I pieced this shop back together without magic," George started with a proud tone. "I'm not about to sit back and swish my wand about now."

Percy couldn't help the proud smile that stretched across his face. Ever since George had started getting the shop up and running again - with the help of Lee and Angelina - he seemed to gain a piece of his old self back by the day.

"Very well, then," Percy said, pulling out some Skiving Snackboxes. "Show me the way."

"Over there," George replied as he pointed to a set of shelves. "And stop avoiding the Audrey conversation."

Percy let out an irritated groan. He was so sure he had escaped that. "I really mucked that up," he muttered in reply.

"Oh yes, Audrey was looking quite murderous," George agreed. "I don't know what in Merlin's name happened on your little date, but I think acquaintances may have been an understatement."

"I _know_ , all right? I would take back that damned word if I could," Percy said. "And it's just - well - right after all of that? My head was a mess. I couldn't even see straight. Besides, you _know_ how Mum gets."

"Fair enough. I think you spared Audrey a horrible fate," George said jokingly.

The room filled with silence for a moment as the brothers continued to move products to shelves. It was a comfortable silence, and Percy was filled with that happy feeling he started to get every time he stopped by the Burrow for a family dinner, or received a letter from Ginny. It was a feeling he would only get when he was around family - that is, until he got to know Audrey.

"Did you do it because she was a Slytherin?"

George's question broke the silence and caused Percy to turn towards his brother with a sharp look. George didn't seem amused or accusing - the question was honest, and Percy could hear the curiosity in his tone.

"What? Of course not!" Percy replied. Then, his eyes widened and he asked, "Do you think she thinks that?"

George shrugged and answered, "Probably. _I_ wouldn't blame you. Slytherins aren't necessarily my favourite company, and the only reason Fred and I talked to Audrey was because we had a deal. She got spared from our pranks if we were given access to their common room. Although, she was pretty good at coming up with pranks when it came to exacting revenge."

"She's not - no - that's - " Percy cut himself off and let out a frustrated groan. "That's _definitely_ not the problem. I mean... you know how the Slytherins were, right?"

"Yeah. Pretty horrible, and kind of selfish," George said.

"Well, do you think one of them would waste their energy protecting you during a duel when they have an injury and their own opponent to worry about?" Percy questioned. "She's - she's - "

"Changed."

Percy frowned in confusion. That was certainly not the word he was looking for. Brave came to mind, along with daring, and observant, but not _changed_. There was something about Audrey's attitude that seemed so... set in stone.

"Trust me. The Audrey I knew at Hogwarts would have only done that for one person," George continued, a faint smile on his face. "Her younger brother. It's nice to know she's changed for the better, though."

 _Her younger brother._

"What happened to him?" Percy asked as the words of the Death Eater Audrey duelled came to the forefront of his memories. "Her brother, I mean."

George shrugged and answered, "I don't know. He was in the same year as Ron, but kind of an outcast in Slytherin. More temperamental and civil than the rest of them. Pucey nearly beat him up on the Quidditch pitch once because he refused to do a dirty play."

Percy grew silent after that, his mind noisy with the memories of the attack and the information he got from George. _Probably dead._ That's what the Death Eater had said to Audrey about her brother.

He suddenly felt a lot worse about the word 'acquainted,' and the worst part was that he couldn't go looking for her at work the next day.

* * *

 _One day to go. One day to go. One day to - oh sod it._

Audrey could not have lasted one more minute in that apartment even if her life depended on it, so she had snuck out for a walk through Diagon Alley and a drink at the Leaky Cauldron the moment Erin had left for her practice.

Thankfully, she had finished all of her prescriptions from St. Mungo's, therefore green-lighting her to down an entire bottle of elderflower wine if she really wanted to.

That probably wouldn't have been wise, though.

Audrey sighed and swirled the lilac-coloured drink in her glass. The woman at the Floo Network Authority had told her that the approval for the connection would take some time because the other fireplace was in Germany, but she was tired of just sitting around and _waiting_ for an answer to fall into her lap. There had to be something more that she could do.

"Audrey."

The witch in question looked up and her expression darkened considerably when she noticed Percy standing next to her. He looked just as surprised to see her as she felt to see him, but this wasn't what she wanted to deal with. She wanted to deal with wine and thinking, not wine and Percy.

Audrey waved her hand towards the bartender and called, "My tab, Tom."

"No, don't leave," Percy said quickly as he slid onto the stool next to her, a hand automatically moving to rest on her shoulder. Audrey didn't even notice it until he said, "I need to talk to you. I'll get your next drink."

He had not expected to run into Audrey, and wasn't entirely sure where all of those words were coming from. Percy had decided to go to the Leaky for a drink as a way to settle his restlessness. It seemed that Fate had other plans, though.

"Well, we're just acquaintances, right?" she challenged. "Should you be casually buying drinks for acquaintances?"

"Audrey, please hear me out on this," Percy pleaded. "I had a logical reason for saying that."

"Oh no, I get it," Audrey said with a nod. "I'm a Slytherin. Trust me, I'm used to it by now."

"That wasn't the reason," Percy replied. He had a serious expression on his face as he added, "I know you think that, but it honestly wasn't."

"Not even a little bit?"

Percy scoffed. "So, you wanted me to tell my family immediately after we went through a life-threatening accident that I now have a girlfriend? Is that what you're saying?" he asked challengingly. "I'm sorry if I thought you didn't want to touch on the topic for a little while. Here I thought that what we went through was a traumatic event. Not to mention the fact that I never even got a proper answer out of you before the damn hallway exploded."

He sounded frustrated, frenzied, and it was making Audrey feel _guilty_. That wasn't right at all, as far as she was concerned. She wasn't used to being so _openly_ _wrong_ , but Percy made a good point. She did have other things on her mind at the time - _a lot_ of other things - and she never got the chance to give him a proper answer.

"It's just – I mean, _acquaintance_? I think we are _far_ past that," Audrey argued. "Couldn't you have said _friend_ , or something a little more befitting?"

"I'm sorry that acquaintance was the first word that came to my head, all right? Trust me, I regret it. I just thought that you had more important matters on your mind than to worry about..." he trailed off and gestured between the two of them. "This."

"I was more offended because I thought you did it because I was a Slytherin," Audrey said quietly, looking down at the bar to avoid his gaze.

"That's not the case, trust me," Percy said calmly. "Like you said, we're far past acquaintances. You really thought I would still have a problem with you being a Slytherin at this point?"

"I guess not," she replied, a small smile fighting to the surface. "Sorry for acting out."

"Sorry for being a prat and thinking of a stupid word like 'acquainted,'" he said, causing Audrey's smile to spread into a grin.

"From acquaintance to girlfriend in less than five minutes," Audrey mused. "Who knew I could be so alluring?"

"Well, you know - I mean - _girlfriend_ is very - it's really up - "

"I think I get it," Audrey laughed. "I had a lot on my mind then, if I'm to be perfectly honest, and so I guess I should be thankful."

"Yeah, I, uh, heard what that Death Eater told you," Percy said quietly. "Last week. During the duel. That's a lot to pile onto one person."

Audrey sighed and returned her gaze to her wine glass. Maybe talking to Percy was exactly what she needed. It always seemed to make her feel a little better, and maybe he had some idea on how she could get some solid answers.

"Right. My brother," Audrey started. "As far as I know, he's _missing_ , so it's more of a waiting game right now. I'm waiting for a Floo connection to be set up between my flat and my aunt's place in Germany. Maybe she knows something, but that'll take time to set up."

"Why don't you just retrieve his Ministry Identification File?" Percy asked as he waved to the bartender for a glass of firewhiskey.

"Excuse me?" Audrey looked up at him with a confused look on her face.

"Yeah - every witch and wizard has one," Percy explained. "It gets magically updated with your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, along with any treatment you get at St. Mungo's, enrolment in any training programme, any criminal charges, and so on. It can only be viewed for professional purposes, but family can access it at any time."

It would also get updated when the witch or wizard died, but Percy didn't think he should mention that specific fact. Judging by the stressed look on Audrey's face, death was the last thing she needed to have on her mind.

"He always wanted to be a Curse Breaker," Audrey said quietly.

"It would be in there if he enrolled in training at Gringotts," Percy replied.

Audrey couldn't believe that she didn't think of that earlier. She moved to stand up from her stool. "I need to go!"

Percy placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from getting up and said, "Whoa, slow down. It's nine in the evening - no one's even in the Registration Department anymore. Just go on your first day back at training. That's tomorrow, right?"

Audrey bit her lip nervously as she nodded slowly, the stress of the entire week still bubbling inside her. Finally, she had something that would give her a straight answer, but it would eat away at her if she couldn't go after that file right then and there. She had to forget. Let go of the reins.

"Can you distract me for a while?" she asked Percy. "Just... keep me company."

* * *

"I had to write a report on the standardization of cauldron bottom thickness for my first job."

"That's silly."

"It's very important!"

"I know - I am quite the Potions extraordinaire. It's the Belgians that slack on thickness."

"Are you kidding?"

Audrey looked up at Percy with a look of indignation. "I really am a Potions extraordinaire!" she exclaimed.

Percy laughed as he realized that Audrey was genuinely praising him. It caused a warm, proud feeling in his chest. It was that happy feeling again.

This was different than the last time they went out. They had moved into a booth, where they sat together, Audrey terribly close to him, her leg brushing against his. Instead of just grasping her hand in some friendly and comforting manner, Percy would brush his fingers along her forearm before his fingers entwined with hers.

They were far more comfortable with each other in that moment than they had ever been before.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you a big secret, Percy," Audrey declared as she set down her glass of elderflower wine.

"I don't think you should say anything when you've had this much alcohol," Percy noted.

"Excuse me, I am an Irishwoman. I can handle my liquor perfectly fine, thank you," she argued. "Besides, I trust you, remember?"

Percy smiled faintly, his mind going back to the words she had said to him during the duelling just last week. "Yeah, I remember."

"Anyways, big secret time. Only Erin knows this. And, well, a few people found out under... special circumstances." Audrey paused, her eyes narrowing slightly, as if part of her mind was telling her this was a bad idea. Clearly ignoring that part of her mind, she finally said, "I have a tattoo. It's a bear dressed as a leprechaun."

Percy couldn't stifle his laughter. Or maybe he didn't really want to stifle it. Audrey made him laugh, and there was no reason for him to hide that. "What in Merlin's name compelled you to get that sort of tattoo?" he asked between laughs.

"I was stupid and sixteen," Audrey started with a sigh, "and I lost a bet with my brother on the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup. Leprechaun for Ireland, a bear because it was on our family crest."

"So, where is it? The tattoo, I mean," Percy asked as he brought his glass of firewhiskey to his lips.

"On my arse."

Percy choked on his drink and his face started to burn up, but he was quite sure it had nothing to do with the alcohol. It wasn't so much the thought that Audrey had a tattoo on her arse, more than the thought of...

 _You are in a bleeding pub_ , Percy scolded himself.

However, as his mind started to make sense of the words "special circumstances," his face felt hot enough to boil water.

"Stop thinking about my arse," Audrey suddenly said. He turned to look at her and noticed she had an amused grin on her face.

"Who says I am?" Percy challenged, but his tone was not quite as assertive as Audrey's.

"You have that stupid look on your face that all guys get when they think about a girl naked," she explained.

"Right," Percy said with a nod. His thoughts drifted away from Audrey's arse and to another mystery. "What do you think would've happened if we met then? At the World Cup."

Audrey let out an unflattering snort before saying, "We would've wrung each other's necks."

Percy frowned in confusion, but Audrey only raised an eyebrow in return, the same look of amusement on her face. She had thought of Percy's question earlier, and the answer had been pretty obvious to her.

"Don't give me that look," Audrey ordered. "I don't know about you, but I was a different person back then. Even if _I_ didn't have a problem with blood status, nearly everyone in Slytherin did. Spending so much time around them meant that I had formed a habit of saying some nasty things without thinking. And, like many Slytherins, I may have taken the meaning of 'self-preservation' a little too far."

Percy remembered what George had said about Audrey changing for the better, and he realized that that had happened to him too. "I was really proud back then, and it was all about my work," Percy said. "Looking back on it, I can't believe I let myself get so carried away because of a _job_."

There was a pause as both of them took another sip of their drinks. Audrey's fingers fidgeted with the base of her wine glass once she set it down. "People change, you know," she started, her tone a lot quieter and softer, "and then you find you have less in common with old friends and more in common with the strangest people. Explains us pretty well."

"So I guess we're lucky that we met now and not then," Percy commented.

Audrey looked up at him, a curious smile on her face as she said, "Yeah, I guess we are."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Just a quick note: the next update won't be until the next weekend, not in four days like usual, since I'm going on vacation :P Anyways, reviews are lovely heartwarming things sooooo ;)**


	19. Playing Detective

**Sorry for the longer wait! I was on vacation and sans wi-fi, but now I am home. Here is the next chapter! :)**

* * *

 _19\. Playing Detective_

* * *

 _There was a trail of heat left behind when his hands moved away from a spot on her legs, her back, her stomach... it wasn't a searing heat, either. It was more like a tingling warmth and it ignited something in her. A need to cling onto him like her life depended on it._

 _Then everything seemed to flash forward and they were just a mess of limbs and sheets, accompanied by a whole lot moaning and sighing. A whole lot of a certain tingly, quavering feeling that -_

Audrey's eyes snapped open.

She let out a small sigh of relief when she realized she was lying on her stomach in her bed, a large lump of the covers gathered under her arm. Alcohol before bed always gave her the most strangely pleasant dreams.

 _These are not my sheets._

 ** _These are not my sheets._**

In one swift movement, Audrey rolled over and sat up with a startled expression on her face. Her eyes skimmed the foreign room until they landed on the man lying next to her, naked as far as she could tell - which was a whole lot thanks to her talent at hogging the covers.

The rest of the night flooded to her in the next second, all coming to her in one, big headache - the drinking, the happiness, and, of course, the great shag.

"Morning."

Audrey's eyes met Percy's and she felt her features softening into a smile.

Until she realized what day it was.

"Damn it! I have training!"

Audrey jumped from the bed and scrambled around the bedroom in search for her muggle clothes. Oh, how dearly she hoped that Allison would have spare robes.

"Nice tattoo."

"This is not the time!"

With a frustrated groan, Audrey reached a hand under the bed until her fingers wrapped around her left sneaker. She pulled it out and got dressed in record time, then turned to Percy with a satisfied huff.

Audrey felt the smile returning to her face, despite her panic. "Are we - ?" she started, gesturing wildly between them. She let out a defeated sigh and said, "You know what? For the next eight hours, I couldn't care less. We'll talk about it tonight - your place?"

Percy smiled. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

"Good morning, everyone!"

"Well, she's cheery," Allison muttered.

Audrey looked up from her hands and ceased fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. She may have earned a one week break, but that meant that Audrey came back on the last day of training with the year one and year three trainees. She only hoped that the Auror that had entered the room was not as pushy as Connell.

That certain training session was being run by the year three supervisor, and it was already off to a mysterious start. Everyone had been issued a short-sleeve cotton shirt and a pair of sweatpants for the session, which was a change from the usual robes. Audrey thanked her lucky stars that she didn't need robes the one day she didn't have them.

Audrey's eyes skimmed the room until they landed on the lively supervisor, and she nearly stumbled backwards in shock.

The woman looked very young, and she was dressed in the same attire as everyone else. Her skin was deeply tanned and she wore her brown hair short, almost shaved. Her face was set in a smile, but it looked more mischievous than kind.

"I am quite pleased to see you all in one room like this," she continued. "My name is Teodora Gabor, as the year three trainees know, but you may call me Teo."

"She's pretty relaxed, too," Audrey muttered in reply to Allison.

"Now, let's get started on some combat training! Leave your wands on the benches at the sides of the room."

"Forget what I said about relaxed," Audrey added as she made her way to one of the benches along the walls of the room with Allison.

"I'm ready for training with Halloway again," Allison replied in agreement.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but... I second that."

Audrey and Allison made their way back to where they were first standing and made sure they were spread out from the other partners. Teo gave them some basic instructions on moves and ordered all of the trainees to take turns repeating them a few times before starting to actually fight.

"Oh, and keep your eyes open - you never know what combat may bring!" she reminded cheerfully before stepping to one of the sides of the room and observing everyone.

Combat training had always been one of Audrey's dislikes. She knew how to fight with a wand well enough - that was the world she grew up in, after all - but with her hands?

Well, that was another matter entirely, if the bruises forming on her abdomen were anything to go by. Or maybe she was just tired. It wasn't like she got a whole lot of sleep the night before.

"How... are you... so good at this?" Audrey asked Allison in disbelief, breathing heavily. Her partner was a bit shorter than her, and Audrey was going for defensive moves, yet Allison still managed to land numerous punches and kicks.

"You know what they say," Allison started with a smug look on her face. "Aim high, hit low."

"Who says that?" Audrey asked exasperatedly.

Allison shrugged. "Muggles."

As Audrey rolled her eyes and let out a defeated sigh, her attention was drawn to something that looked a lot like a crack in the centre of the ceiling of the training room. Audrey narrowed her eyes at the spot, and then widened them when the crack started to spread.

"Audrey, pay attention."

"No, look."

Audrey pointed up at the ceiling. Pieces were starting to crumble out of the crack now, and more people were drawing their attention to it. It didn't take long for the puzzle to come together in Audrey's mind.

She grabbed Allison's arm and quickly dragged her to the side of the room just as a large chunk fell out of the ceiling. Audrey dove for her wand and when she turned, almost the entire centre part of the ceiling was caving with a deafening screech.

Audrey swished her wand and aimed at the falling ceiling. The chunks that were falling bounced a bit, as if they hit an invisible barrier, and surprise filled Audrey. There was no way her magic was strong enough to hold _all_ of that... her eyes skimmed the room and she noticed other trainees in positions similar to hers. Her gaze wandered to the ceiling, and curiously enough, it was right there, all in one piece.

 _Wait. What?_

It was as if there were _two_ ceilings stacked together, and only one of them fell down. As if someone - perhaps a certain supervisor - had transfigured that second ceiling.

Suddenly, Audrey heard a clapping sound from the far side of the room, and Teo stepped forward until she was standing in the middle of the training room with an amused smile on her face.

"Brilliant!" she exclaimed, spreading her arms wide. "I must say, you are all quite good at adapting."

Teo's head snapped towards Audrey and her eyes seemed to sear through her. "And you, Miss Callaghan, are just full of surprises. Only one week has passed since the incident and yet you're performing impeccably."

"What, the _Slytherin_? That's bollocks!"

Audrey's eyes trailed across the room to the source of the voice - her partner at the beginning of the training year. She couldn't help the scowl that came to her face.

Teo let out a condescending _tsk-tsk_ before saying, "I would be careful if I were you, Mr. Fawley. Miss Callaghan is holding up a sizeable portion of this ceiling."

"She's just a coward."

 _ **Coward?** I'll show you, you little -_

"Hey, don't run your mouth about things you don't understand! Audrey took down three Death Eaters during the incident last week! What were _you_ doing?"

The outburst wasn't from Allison, who was sitting right next to Audrey with a look that was halfway between amusement and alarm. No, it was from someone that was a good fifteen feet away, staring down Fawley from across the room, his face red and eyes narrowed.

Much to Audrey's surprise, it was Ron Weasley.

The first to react was Teo. She laughed loudly and even made a show of wiping tears from her eyes. "My my, what a rambunctious group you are," she said between laughs. Then, with a swish of her wand, the ceiling chunks started to levitate to their original positions and the cracks disappeared. "Get back to work, folks. I'll try not to bring the ceiling down again anytime soon."

"I don't think I've ever missed Halloway this much," Audrey breathed out as she stood up.

Allison laughed and stood up next to her. "I'm going to kiss the very ground he walks on after this."

* * *

When Audrey exited the change room, she nearly ran straight into Ron and Harry.

Not that she was really surprised. She had been expecting them to seek her out after training.

With an overdramatic roll of her eyes, Audrey said, "Yes, I'm a Slytherin. Get over it. Honestly, with the way you're staring, you'd think you've never seen one before."

"Well, brave Slytherins are a real rarity," Ron noted.

"Brave - that's sweet," Audrey said sarcastically. The word gnawed at her though, and she was reminded of what Daphne had said. Audrey had a difficult time believing that she had changed _that_ much, though, so it wasn't too difficult for her to continue, "I'm a proud one, too, so watch what you say about my house. You don't give us enough credit."

"I don't think he, er, meant it that way," Harry excused nervously, as if he was scared she would hex the two of them.

Audrey shrugged, her mind wandering to one of her first encounters with Percy that had been awfully similar. "Well, it's not like Slytherin has the best track record for do-gooders, I suppose. Although, if you count Merlin - and I do - he was one of the best do-gooders there ever was, so I guess Slytherin has a habit of producing extremes."

"That's one way of putting it," Ron said. "It's just... good to see _everyone_ making an effort. _Really_ everyone."

Audrey laughed lightly. "Well, if you're sufficiently convinced that I'm _not_ a pureblood supremacist, I think I'll be on my way," she said with a wave.

As soon as Audrey turned the corner, she broke into a run. She had not planned for that encounter, and now she was much shorter on time. Audrey hoped to Merlin and Morgana that she didn't have to wait another day to retrieve Brady's file.

However, once Audrey arrived at the Administrative Registration Department, the Welcome Witch was still sitting at her desk, and Audrey couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as she walked up to her.

The witch gave her a smile and asked, "What can I help you with, Miss?"

"I would like to retrieve the identification file of one Brady Callaghan," Audrey said. "He's my brother."

"I'll need a piece of identification from _you_ in that case," the witch said.

Audrey handed her the Ministry Identification Badge she was given when she enrolled in Auror training and the Welcome Witch checked it over. Then, the witch pulled out her wand and performed an incantation, probably to check if Audrey had any polyjuice potion or some kind of concealment charm.

With a nod, the woman handed Audrey her badge back and said, "Brady Callaghan?" Audrey nodded in confirmation. "Any middle name? That would make it easier to find."

"Yes, Altair."

The witch stood up and turned around. As she headed for a closed door labelled _AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY_ , she called over her shoulder, "Be back in a jiff!"

After about five minutes, the woman came back with a file in hand. She sat down again and opened it, probably to make sure that everything was in order. When a frown settled on her features, Audrey could feel worry weighing her down.

"What did you need the file for, Miss?" the witch asked slowly.

"He's been missing, and I wanted to see if there were any updates to it," Audrey explained. She swore that there was a nervous shake in her voice.

The woman behind the desk looked up at her, sadness filling her eyes. "Miss, your brother is dead."

Audrey blinked. _Dead?_

"Yes, that's what this says."

 _Oh, Merlin, I said that out loud?_ "Was anyone notified?" Audrey asked instead.

The woman flipped through the pages of the file and then nodded once her eyes came to rest on the bottom of a page. "Yes, a Missus Valerie Vulchanova. Says here that she was the official guardian of your brother."

"She's my mother's oldest sister," Audrey managed to say. "Estranged sister."

Her mother had not seen hide nor hair of Valerie since the day of her wedding, and Audrey and Brady had never even met the woman. They didn't even know if she was alive, and whenever Audrey's mother would get riled up about the matter, her tirade would always end along the lines of, "Father should have never trusted that Bulgarian idiot, pureblood or not!" then storm out of the room.

However, in the midst of the war, she probably became Brady's automatic guardian when their parents died, and no one bothered to question it.

"Can I get a copy of that file?" Audrey asked quietly.

The witch nodded and copied the pages with a swish of her wand. She handed Audrey the non-magical copy with an apologetic look, but Audrey couldn't meet her eyes. She swiftly turned around and stormed out.

* * *

Died on the third of May, nineteen ninety-eight, eighteen minutes past two in the morning. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Grievous injuries from Dark Magic. Buried at Heroes' Peak, Hogsmeade.

Daphne had been telling the truth. Brady stayed behind to help fight against the Death Eaters. That was a welcoming thought, to know that her brother did the right thing.

The thought that made her feel sick to her stomach was that by the end of it all, Brady was suffering from horrific injuries. Injuries that took _hours_ to finally take his life away, in a hospital that was probably far too swamped to even remember his bleeding name.

With a pained sigh, Audrey closed the folder in her hands and looked up at the apartment building in front of her. She had walked to Percy's place from the Ministry, but as she walked up the stairs to his flat, she suddenly felt very displeased with herself.

 _What am I even thinking?_ she thought to herself with grimace. A big part of Audrey was telling her how selfish she was being. How could she just keep going to Percy with her problems, dropping them onto him like an overloaded lorry? Audrey ridiculed the way Slytherins acted, jokingly called it 'The Leech Complex,' but wasn't that what _she_ was doing?

Audrey had changed for the better. She was brave now. She could handle things on her own. Most of all, she couldn't keep leaning her weight on other people. Especially not people that had their own healing to do.

By the time Percy opened the door to his flat, Audrey had buried herself into a tunnel, and she could only say one thing.

"I - I can't do this. To you."

* * *

 **Yeah, things are getting a little angsty. Don't forget to leave a review! :)**


	20. When Death Calls

**Already at chapter 20! Let's see how Audrey's declaration from the last chapter goes down...**

* * *

 _20\. When Death Calls_

* * *

Percy gaped slightly at Audrey as he stood before her, a mug of tea in each hand. Perhaps he had misheard.

"To _me_? What are you doing to _me_?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

Percy's tone was a strange mix of nervousness and forced amusement. He hoped to Merlin and Morgana that he had misheard, misunderstood, but Percy was slowly realizing that the chance of that being the case was slim. Audrey's thinly red-rimmed eyes possessed a glazed look and her hands fidgeted nervously with some papers in her hands. Something was very wrong with her.

"I - I'm fine," she stuttered out, her voice rising on the last word in a forced attempt to exude confidence. "I've realized that I've been unfair and - and I can't continue doing this to you."

Percy shook his head, hoping that the motion would clear up the situation. No luck in that respect. "Audrey, come inside and let's talk. I have tea, we'll sit - "

"No!" Audrey exclaimed. Percy raised his eyebrows in surprise at her sudden outburst and she took a deep breath. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. I can't - I can't just make you carry around my problems for me. It's selfish and rather egotistic, and I'm not that person." _Anymore_ , Audrey added to herself.

As Percy tried to make sense of her words, his eyebrows met in a frown. "I'm not carrying anything for you," he said calmly. "I thought you felt better when we talked. I did, anyways."

"I do feel better, but it's not your problem, not your _responsibility_ to worry about my mess of a life. I mean, Merlin knows you have your own life to sort out," Audrey argued. "It's selfish and I'd rather not _be_ that way."

"To sort - ? You've got to be kidding - I - " Percy stammered angrily. Her words made absolutely no sense to him and he felt himself fuming and just about ready to slam the mugs in his hands on the ground. He didn't want to get angry. That never kept his thoughts clear.

But it was happening.

"You know something? You _are_ selfish," Percy suddenly said. "For you to think that all of this - all of us, whatever the hell we are - is all about _you_ \- that is egotistic, so yes, you're quite right. Damn, to think you ever could have changed."

" _Changed?_ What are you - ?" Audrey cut herself off with a huff and simply said, "Fine! I'm glad you see it my way."

Audrey stormed off and down the hallway of the apartment building and Percy slammed the door shut with his foot. He set down the mugs on the first table he saw and angrily slammed his fist on the wall next to it.

He didn't understand it. How in Merlin's name did they go from _last night_ to having this stupid, out-of-the-blue fight? What could have possibly happened in the last eight hours that changed Audrey so much that she -

 _The file. The damn Ministry file, you big dolt._

Percy's eyes widened and his fingers slowly relaxed from their tightly-formed fists. Audrey had resolved to retrieve her brother's Ministry file that day.

And her eyes...

Percy groaned and leaned his forehead against the wall. Whatever was in that file, it couldn't have been good.

* * *

Telling Erin had been the hardest. She had collapsed into Audrey's arms like a rag doll, and it was all Audrey could do not to start crying herself.

Eventually, Audrey had managed to get her to settle down, and in that moment, Erin was sitting on the couch with a blank look on her tear-stained face and a steaming mug of tea in her hands. Her eyes were staring straight ahead, and her jaw was moving back and forth, grinding her teeth. Every once in a while, as Audrey would look up from the parchment resting on her book, she would see Erin leaning her head back to stop more tears from leaving her eyes.

Audrey looked back down at the parchment with a shaky sigh and fidgeted with the quill in her hand.

 _Dear Daphne,_

 _I promised that I would update you if I found out anything about Brady, so here it is. He died a few hours after the final battle from Dark Magic injuries, and he is buried in the memorial cemetery in Hogsmeade - the one dedicated to the people that died fighting in the war. I hate that I have to owl you for the first time in years on these terms, but please know that you are always welcome to contact me._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Audrey_

That was as good as it was going to get, Audrey decided. To the point, pragmatic, and as much consideration as one could show through parchment. Audrey always hated flowery letters, but now that she had to write about her own brother's demise, it seemed a struggle to keep herself from romanticizing everything.

Audrey silently stood from the armchair she was sitting in and walked over to the owl perch in the living room. She sent her and Erin's owl, Agrona, on its way after giving it a treat and turned to sit next to Erin.

After a long moment of silence, Erin finally spoke. "All this time... and we didn't even know."

"They notified Valerie when he died," Audrey supplied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Lots of help that was."

"Speaking of, you should probably Floo call Camille," Erin reminded.

"We don't have - "

Audrey was silenced as Erin dropped an opened envelope into her lap. The sender address in the corner was clearly the Ministry of Magic seal.

"I figured you were up to something when I read that, but I didn't want to think..." Erin trailed off and brought the large mug to her face.

"That he might be alive, or that he might be dead?"

"That you would keep this from me. That you would keep _anything_ from me. _Merde_ , Audrey, what's _wrong_ with you?"

Audrey felt her heart break at those words and turned to give Erin an apologetic look, but her friend wouldn't meet her eyes. With a sigh, she turned to the envelope and gingerly pulled out the letter. Sure enough, the Floo connection had been approved.

When she looked up at Erin again, her friend's face was still hidden by the mug and her shoulders were shaking lightly. Audrey felt horrible for keeping Erin in the dark, but she _knew_ that her friend would have taken the news even worse if it had crushed the false hope that Brady could actually be alive.

 _I made the right choice_ , Audrey told herself. _Right?_

With a deep breath to steady her nerves, Audrey stood up and walked over to the small fireplace in the living room. She grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the bag hanging on the mantle and threw it into the hearth as she declared, "Carver Manor, Sassnitz, Germany."

The fireplace was filled with green flames, and Audrey stuck her head in.

In the blink of an eye, she was looking into a twilit study, directly facing the person sitting at the desk. It was a man, her Uncle Daveth, and he appeared far too engrossed in the newspaper in his hands to have even noticed the head floating in the flames of his fireplace. His light brown hair was greying, Audrey noted with a hint of sadness, and he looked _tired_.

"Uncle Daveth!"

Daveth looked up, startled by the sudden exclamation, but his features relaxed into a grin when he noticed Audrey's face in the green flames. "Audrey! What a surprise - I'd heard something about you setting up a connection with us. I'll go get Camille."

After a few minutes, Daveth re-entered the study with Camille in tow. Audrey's aunt looked every bit like her mother - the same dark brown hair, soft brown eyes, and pale, lightly freckled skin. The only difference was that Camille wore her brown hair, now sporting grey flecks, quite short, and she was skinnier than her younger sister - if only due to the fact that she never had any children.

"Audrey, we haven't heard from you in _ages_!" Camille exclaimed happily.

That was when Audrey realized the horridness of her call. The last time Audrey had been with her aunt was at her parents' funeral. Now, just over a year later, she was calling to tell her of her nephew's death.

"Oh - uh - I... I have some news," Audrey stuttered out. Camille's smile faltered. "It's about Brady."

"Oh, Merlin..." Daveth muttered.

"He died," Audrey choked out. "A few hours after the final battle - the one at Hogwarts. He - he had some horrible injuries, and he couldn't get to St. Mungo's in time for them to treat him properly."

Camille's jaw dropped slightly, a confused frown on her face. Daveth placed his hands firmly on her arms, ready to hold her up if her stance weakened, but he looked just as broken.

"We'll come to the grave with you," Camille replied in a low, quiet voice. "Where is he buried?"

"Hogsmeade, in that cem - "

"Yes, I heard," Camille interrupted, as if the last word she wanted to hear was 'cemetery.' "We'll see you there tomorrow at eleven in the morning. It was about time we came home."

"I, uh, sold the Callaghan Estate," Audrey muttered. "Back in July."

"That's fine - we'll stay at my grandparents' cottage in Cornwall," Daveth offered.

"Do you want me to meet you at the Ministry?" Audrey offered. "You'll probably have to go through the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"No need," Camille said. Audrey winced at her aunt's quick reply. She couldn't help but take that a little personally, even if it wasn't intended that way. "We'll just meet you in Hogsmeade. Oh, and one more question, dear."

"What is it?" Audrey asked.

"How come we didn't know sooner?" Camille asked, a pained look on her face.

"The Ministry notified _Valerie_ when he died," Audrey said quietly. "She was her official guardian or something."

" _Valerie?_ " Camille bellowed. "That - that - "

"Cam, relax," Daveth said calmly. "It was beyond your control."

Camille's fuming expression went back to her pained look. "So I suppose she is dead, then," she decided.

"Well, she could be alive," Audrey offered. "We would have to retrieve her Identification File from the Bulgarian Ministry, though, to find out."

"No, Audrey," Camille said in a low voice. "She's dead _to us_. Not even sending word... her own nephew..."

"Cam, please don't let this bother you," Daveth warned, his tone filled with worry.

His wife's frown seemed to soften a bit and she let out a sigh before saying, "We'll see you tomorrow, Audrey."

Audrey nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Goodbye."

She moved out of the flames before she could hear the farewells of her aunt and uncle. Audrey's mum and Aunt Camille always spoke with such disappointment about Aunt Valerie, but Audrey tried to think it was because of typical sibling rivalry. Now, though, she thought differently. If Valerie truly was alive and didn't even bother to send word to the rest of the family about her own nephew dying, then she was as good as dead to Audrey.

In fact, Audrey didn't even feel the need to pursue the woman. _Let her have the isolation that she wanted._

"Camille and Daveth want to see the grave tomorrow," Audrey said quietly as she turned towards Erin. "We'll be meeting them there at eleven."

" _You_ _'ll_ be meeting them there," Erin snapped as she turned to meet Audrey's eyes.

Audrey frowned and stood to sit next to Erin. "You don't want to come?" she asked.

"Oh, of course I want to visit Brady's grave," Erin corrected. "I just don't want to do it with you. You wanted to look for him without me, you can visit him without me."

Audrey gaped at the blonde witch sitting next to her, who only stonily glared back. "Erin - "

"Don't you 'Erin' me!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me you were looking for him, eh? You think I'm too _foutrement lâche_ to handle death? Not like it hasn't been haunting me, right? Need I remind you that I saw my own father get killed in the middle of Muggle Dublin?"

"Erin, I thought I was protecting you, all right?" Audrey replied. "If - if you had the false hope that he was alive, it would have been worse, and - "

"Oh, and _you_ didn't have that hope, right?" Erin interrupted with a sneer. "Expecting the worst out of everything, as always, I bet."

"Of course I did! But - "

"Audrey, figure-toi que - agh!" Erin cut herself with an angry huff. The angrier she got, the more French she spoke, and Audrey could tell it was taking a lot of energy to keep her mind clear. "Would you believe that I _already had_ the false hope that Brady was alive? Or is that too _fucking optimistic_ for you to understand?"

"That's not true!" Audrey exclaimed. "I didn't think - "

"Non, tu pensais _pas du tout_! You just think you're _so_ much better at handling cette merde, non?" Erin asked with a scoff. She angrily pushed herself off the couch and stormed off, all the while muttering, "Typical Audrey. All about you."

Audrey gaped as her friend stalked off to her room. Once Erin had left the living room, Audrey limply fell back into the couch.

In that moment, as she heard the door to Erin's room slam shut and echo in the silence of their flat, Audrey couldn't help but think that her so-called bravery was a complete farce. At least, it seemed that every time she _tried_ to be brave, it inevitably turned into selfishness. That big, bad trait that hovered over every Slytherin like their own personal rain cloud.

 _Me, me, me. Boo hoo hoo. Get a hold of yourself._

Audrey picked up another piece of parchment and her quill from the coffee table, getting ready to write her letter of absence for the next day when a curious thought hit her.

 _Maybe you need to stop trying so hard. You're not so bad, Callaghan._

For some reason, Audrey struggled to believe that the solution to all of her problems was really that simple, but she also knew that there was one person that could help her tell right from wrong.

Aunt Camille.

* * *

 **Sooo, Audrey's life is kind of falling apart :P**

 **Thanks again to all who have reviewed so far - you are a great help when it comes to helping me put my best writing forward!**

 **ALSO, some updates to the tumblr where I post blurbs about the characters: I have put up a "history of the Callaghans" of sorts, as well as blurbs about Audrey and her brother, and Audrey's mum and aunts :)**


	21. Forgiveness and Remembrance

_21\. Forgiveness and Remembrance_

* * *

"So. I'm off."

Erin looked up from her bowl of porridge to meet Audrey's gaze. Her anger had dissipated overnight into an amalgation of sadness, grief, and aversion. Audrey remarked with an inward wince that her expression resembled that of a kicked puppy.

She winced outwardly when she realized that that look was _her_ fault.

"Don't have too much fun," Erin muttered sarcastically as she looked back down at her bland breakfast.

"You _can_ come, you know?" Audrey offered. "Doesn't mean you have to forgive me, or anything, but you can still - "

"I'll pass, merci."

"Erin - "

"I said _I'll pass_ , damn it!" Erin shouted as she slammed her hand on the table. She leaned back in her chair with a huff and looked straight ahead, avoiding Audrey's gaze.

Audrey bit her lip nervously. She wanted to scream, throw things, cry and sob until there wasn't a drop of water left in her body, but she couldn't. Not in front of Erin. Not in front of anyone. It was a demeaning way to act. It was a _weak_ way to act.

But it was _her_ brother that died, damn it! She had every right to grieve outwardly and _not_ bottle up her emotions until all that was left to look at was a glassy, stoic exterior. Audrey reserved that right more than anyone.

 _You've done enough damage to Erin_ , she chided herself. _Leave before your selfishness hurts her more._

"All right," Audrey said quietly, trying to hide the shakiness to her voice. "Goodbye, then."

* * *

Audrey felt her heels digging into the soft earth and nervously smoothed down her black pants as she waited at the cemetery gate. A chilly, late February breeze blew past her and she pulled at her black trench coat with a shiver. The sun was shining, though, and most of the snow had melted, so it couldn't have been quite that cold. The shiver was, most likely, caused by an internal coldness.

The sound of footsteps on stone grabbed Audrey's attention and she turned to the direction from where the sound was coming to see her aunt and uncle walking up the cobblestone path arm in arm. They were both wearing wool coats and had scarves draped across their shoulders. Camille had a black beret on her head, which she would occasionally reach up to adjust, and a long, black dress. Daveth was dressed similarly to Audrey: black shirt tucked into black pants.

 _A whole lot of black_ , Audrey remarked solemnly.

Once the couple reached Audrey, Camille looked at her with a faint smile. "Audrey, my dear. How are you holding up?" she asked softly.

"As well as I can," Audrey replied with a shrug. She dug her hands into the pockets of her coat and gestured her head towards the wrought iron gate. "In we go?"

Daveth nodded, a grim look on his face. "In we go."

As the three approached the gate, it swung open inwards and they shuffled into the cemetery grounds.

The cemetery had been established for anyone that died fighting against Voldemort in the Second Wizarding War and did not get claimed by their families for burial in a family cemetery, or for families that wanted to honour their relatives' sacrifices by burying them there. All of the gravestones were similar - modest granite, each name boldly carved into the stone, right above the birth and death dates. A crude reminder of how many people died far before their time.

The graves were arranged alphabetically, so it didn't take long for Audrey and her aunt and uncle to find Brady's.

Audrey stared down the gravestone before her with a deep frown and felt her heart racing the longer she stared at it. Brady's death was becoming more and more real by the second.

 _BRADY ALTAIR CALLAGHAN_

 _Born 7 August 1980_

 _Died 3 May 1998_

The sound of a sob broke Audrey out of her trancelike glare and she turned to her aunt and uncle. Camille had turned away from the gravestone and buried her face in Daveth's shoulder, arms tightly holding on to his middle. Daveth had wrapped his arms around her like a protective cocoon and hidden his face in the crook of her neck.

Audrey turned back to the gravestone. _Just cry, damn it_ , she told herself. _What's the big deal, anyways? You're human._

"Audrey," Camille called softly.

The sound of her name pulled Audrey out of her own thoughts, and as she turned to face Camille, she felt the hot tears on her cheeks. She hurriedly reached up to wipe them away and muttered, "I'm fine."

Camille reached out an arm and said, "No, you're not, love. And that's perfectly fine. It's okay to lean on people, you know?"

Audrey stared back at her aunt, mouth slightly agape as her words sunk into Audrey's brain and took up residence. She had thought she was doing Percy a favour by extracting herself from his life, but Audrey had failed to realize how much help she was to him, too.

She had only thought about herself. _Typical Audrey._

With a racking sob, Audrey rushed into the arms of her aunt and uncle.

* * *

"You ditched me."

Percy stared back at Oliver standing on his doorstep with a confused frown.

Oliver sighed. "You completely forgot."

" _Noooo_..." Percy started. "Of course... not."

Oliver scoffed and shook his head. He pushed past Percy and into his flat with a faint, amused smile. "We were going to meet for breakfast. You said you wanted to talk about something important. Sent me an owl and everything last week."

 _Right_ _._ Percy winced as he remembered the letter, which he had written to Oliver in the hopes that his mate would have been able to help him clear up his situation with Audrey.

Unfortunately, that situation had gotten a lot more complex in a week.

Oliver stared expectantly at Percy's wincing expression.

"So? What's this 'something important' you wrote about?" Oliver asked as he walked into Percy's living room and took a seat on the couch.

Percy closed the door and followed Oliver into the living room. He sat in the armchair with a heavy sigh and made a mental note to remain friends with Oliver for a very long time. "Remember Audrey?" Percy asked.

Oliver grinned knowingly and Percy nearly groaned out loud. "Finally made your move, did you? Or do you need some help with that?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly adept at wooing women," he said pointedly. "And, if I remember correctly, you were the one at Hogwarts that was so oblivious to girls' feelings that you accidentally made one cry."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at his best and grumbled, "All right, you've had your fun. We were talking about you."

Percy allowed a small, victorious smile to dance across his lips before it dropped into a frown as his thoughts wandered back to Audrey. He started to explain the whole, winding tale of how things just seemed to fluctuate from really great to really horrible between him and Audrey, right up until the events of the previous night.

"And now, I feel like she stabbed me with a bloody knife, acting like this was all about her, but it also makes me feel like a real prick for forgetting that that was the day she was going to find out if her brother was alive or not," Percy confessed.

After a short moment of heavy silence, Oliver finally asked, "How do you always manage to dig yourself into the deepest of graves?"

Percy scoffed. "It's a talent, if there ever was one."

"Just go talk to her, mate," Oliver suggested. Percy glared at him and Oliver rolled his eyes in return. "Hear me out on this one: you forgot and _now_ , you remembered. What's more is that if you tell her all that gushy crap about how you need each other, she's bound to forgive you, and maybe it'll make her see where she went wrong, too. Just own up, mate."

Percy looked back at his friend with a frown. "Since when did you get so good at figuring out women?" he asked, a little begrudgingly.

"What, you have a better idea?" Oliver challenged.

Percy looked away in defeat. Oliver made a very good point.

He stood up suddenly and said, "All right, well, I guess I have an apology to make."

"What, you're not even going to feed me?" Oliver asked with feigned hurt. "For all of my labouring?"

Percy waved at him dismissively and said, "Grab what you will from the fridge, and don't forget to put the Locking Charms back up before you leave."

On that note, Percy stepped out of his flat and apparated to the alley behind Audrey's apartment building. He raced into the building and up the stairs, racking his mind to remember if Audrey had ever mentioned her apartment number in conversation.

 _There. Three-oh-five_ _._

Percy took a deep breath and knocked on the poorly painted door. It violently swung open and Percy had already opened his mouth to ask Audrey to be quiet and listen, but his mouth promptly shut itself when he took in the person standing in the doorway.

It wasn't Audrey.

It was Erin.

"Er, morning," he greeted nervously. Erin had a very hostile look on her face, and Percy hoped to Merlin that it wasn't because of him.

"Audrey's not here," Erin replied. "Sorry."

She moved to close the door but Percy stuck a hand out and stopped it. Erin sent him a fiery glare that briefly reminded Percy of the flares of anger that Ginny had, nearly causing him to take a cautious step back.

"Where is she?" Percy asked. "If you don't mind telling me. It's just, I really need to talk to - "

"Oh, what a bloody surprise," Erin said with a roll of her eyes. "She kept you in the dark, too. You know what? I feel so damn sorry for you that I'm going to invite you in. I'm dying to know what she did to you."

As Percy cautiously followed Erin into the flat, he started to realize that the blonde's anger had nothing to do with him and everything to do with Audrey.

Percy heard the door close behind him as he looked around the flat. It was small, neat, and bare. There was the occasional coat flung across the back of a chair, or a pair of shoes lying haphazardly on the floor, but otherwise tidy. He spotted two white doors next to each other across from the kitchen. One was decorated in green and gold, with drawings of leprechauns on broomsticks zooming across it. The other was covered in photos - some magical, some muggle - of different people. Percy noticed a few of Daphne Greengrass, a few with Audrey and a younger boy, one of a man and a woman standing in a cobblestone street.

"Audrey's the nostalgic one," Erin commented as she sat down at the dining table. "She's also the one that's visiting her brother's grave right now."

Percy turned to Erin with a shocked look. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't expecting to hear that, but the matter-of-fact way that Erin said it made it seem like such an everyday thing to do. However, just before he opened his mouth to make some poorly thought-out retort, Percy noticed the blotchiness of Erin's face, the puffiness of her eyes, the redness of her nose.

And the mug in her hand.

"What have you got there?" Percy asked as he gestured towards the mug and sat down across from her.

"None of your business," Erin shot back.

"So I'll assume alcohol, then," Percy retorted. Erin looked mildly surprised, so he added, "Everyone's lost someone to the war."

Erin nodded solemnly and said, "Yeah, and I'm losing my friend to her ego."

"Why aren't you with Audrey?" Percy asked. "I got the impression that you were just as good as their sibling."

"I don't want to go with her," Erin replied. "She didn't even tell me that she had suspicions that Brady was alive! She's been looking for him since the attack in the Ministry and didn't say a peep."

"She didn't tell you that she was looking for Brady?" Percy asked with a confused frown.

Erin's jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she met Percy's eyes. "She told _you_?" Erin exclaimed in indignation. " _You_ and not _me_!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Percy replied as he put his hands up defensively. "The moment she found out her brother was dead, she came over and told me that she couldn't make me 'carry her problems' for her. As if she was the only one benefitting from that relationship."

"Ouais, well, leave it to Audrey to think just about herself," Erin said sourly. Then, more softly, she added, "I don't _really_ blame her for it, though. She's not used to opening up to people, so it's a bloody surprise she was so comfortable with you."

"I guess she does seem like the kind of person to keep others at arm's length," Percy admitted. "I just wish she'd realize she's only human."

"And you didn't know her when she was younger," Erin added. "Her mother told her that if she showed weakness, no one would like her. Her father said she shouldn't show weakness unless she was inviting people to take advantage of her. They were great people, her parents, had good intentions, but - "

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions," Percy interrupted. That was a concept that he was very familiar with.

"Ouais," Erin agreed with a nod. "Listen, the fact that Audrey ever even told you a thing about her brother is downright astounding. I've never known her to open up like that to anyone else except me, so... I'll talk to her about patching things up with you, all right? Just... talking to her after she gets back would be poor timing. Tu comprends?"

Percy nodded and said, "Yeah. I know how it is to say goodbye to a younger brother."

"Then Audrey was an idiot for pushing you away," Erin said. Suddenly, a clang was heard from one of the rooms and Erin stood up and pushed Percy towards the front door. "That's her apparating into the fire escape. Va-t'en!"

Percy reached the door and pulled it open, then turned to look at Erin. "Hey, Erin," he started, "actually, don't say anything to Audrey. I'll... I'll talk to her."

Erin frowned. "You sure?"

Percy nodded and waved goodbye before shutting the door to the flat behind him. He had realized that he knew far too well what Audrey was going through and, for some reason, that made him want to comfort her more.

But if she wasn't going to realize that on her own, then Percy had to show her.

* * *

Audrey stumbled out of the fire escape outside her bedroom window and into her dark room.

She glanced at her bed and briefly considered just curling up in it and staying there for the next month or so. Audrey quickly shook the idea from her head. First, she needed to talk to Erin.

Aunt Camille had been right, as Audrey knew she would be. It was okay to lean on people if they were inviting you to do so. Audrey was in no position to decide when people had had enough of her. She needed to learn to trust others. To trust that the people she cared for would be honest with her. That was true bravery - not the nonsense she had been spouting about carrying her own problems.

She should have never kept her search for Brady from Erin. Her childhood friend - her _sister_ \- would have been a helping hand. Erin would have been someone with whom Audrey could have shared her thoughts of hope and apprehension. She should have never assumed Erin couldn't handle the disappointment. Erin could have easily handled it, especially since she would have had Audrey to lean on.

And Percy... how could she have been so _blind_? He would have said something if she was becoming a burden, but Audrey had been too self-absorbed to realize that he had needed someone to lean on just as much as she did. And she just up and left him alone.

Once Audrey exited her bedroom, she immediately met Erin's eyes. The blonde witch was standing near the dining table with her arms crossed and a small frown on her face, not saying anything. Erin only stared back at Audrey as if waiting for her to make her trademark excuses.

The hot tears burned Audrey's eyes, but she no longer held them back.

"I'm so sorry," Audrey sobbed as the tears fell out.

Erin's frown turned into a look of empathy and she rushed towards Audrey to wrap her in her arms. Audrey quickly hugged her friend back and made no attempt to silence or soften her sobs. She heard Erin start crying as well, felt her small frame shake.

"I'm so sorry," Audrey repeated.

"Oh, Audie," Erin whispered. The sound of the nickname made Audrey's chest constrict. "You're only human."

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave a review! :)**


	22. Clean Slates

_22\. Clean Slates_

* * *

Audrey's one day off to mourn had turned into two days.

So, for that reason, she made a point of arriving extra early to training the day she returned. She hadn't even had much of a chance to utter more than a "good morning" to Erin, who seemed to be forgiving her slowly but surely. Audrey could tell she was still a little miffed about being left out of the loop, and she always seemed to be on the verge of blurting something out before stopping herself.

However, she was no longer grumbling and ignoring Audrey, and that was a relief. She would really need Erin's help with sorting out everything with Percy. If it could even be sorted out, that is.

Audrey had two reasons backing her decision to not dive head-first into an apology. One, she hated doing things when her mind was emotionally charged and, frankly, dealing with your younger brother's death was as emotionally charged as one could get. Two, she hated doing things that didn't project a very desirable outcome. Each time that Audrey played the conversation she had had with Percy over in her head, she tried to put herself in Percy's shoes as a way of figuring out how her apology would go down. Unfortunately, she really couldn't imagine him forgiving her.

Yes, Audrey had decided to take more risks in matters of the heart and whatnot, but people certainly didn't change overnight. So for the time being, Audrey decided that it would be best to take time to plan out her actions - this time being mindful of _others'_ feelings - and focus on her training.

That day, the trainees were redirected to one of the rooms in the Auror Office that looked an awful lot like their classrooms at Hogwarts. The room was empty when Audrey arrived, so she took one of the front seats and rested her forearms on the wooden table in front of her.

Not a minute later, the door banged open and Audrey swivelled in her seat to see who entered. Not surprisingly, Halloway strode into the room. He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Audrey, but quickly averted his gaze and continued making his way to the desk at the front of the room. The scarred Auror shuffled around some papers on the desk and Audrey decided to return to looking down at her hands and maintain the silence.

"Callaghan," Halloway eventually said with a grunt.

"Yes sir?" Audrey prompted as she looked up at him with a blank look on her face. In her mind, she was donning her armour in preparation for whatever he had to say that time.

Despite all of that preparation, his next words still shocked her.

Halloway looked up at her with the same glower he usually had, but his voice was softer than it usually was as he said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Audrey stared back at him, unable to think of anything to say amidst her shock. Halloway had always shown her nothing but distaste, yet here he was expressing his condolences. Audrey braced herself, half-expecting him to add some brutal retort.

Probably sensing her apprehension, Halloway let out a tired sigh before adding, "I knew your father, you know? Worked with him - brilliant Auror. When he resigned, it left a sour taste in my mouth. Felt like he was turning tail and joining the comforts of You-Know-Who's ranks just because he could. Seemed like a Slytherin thing to do. But judging by his involvement with the Order, I was clearly wrong."

"Oh," Audrey managed to get out. "Well... thank you. I appreciate it... as I'm sure my father would have."

Halloway simply nodded and returned to his papers. After another moment of silence, a question popped into her mind. It made perfect sense why Halloway knew about her brother - that had been in her letter requesting absence - but how did he know about her father being involved with the Order? That was what the Death Eater had said during the attack, but Audrey had excluded it from her statement.

"Sir, if I may ask," Audrey started, "how exactly did you hear about - about my father and his involvement with the Order?"

Halloway looked up with confusion clouding his face, as if he had not expected her to ask that. "Well, this is rather embarrassing, but - " Halloway cut himself off with a wince. "Initially, I approached Head Auror Robards about your absence and - and he made me see sense. Turns out he was fully aware of your father's role in the war."

 _Why would he - oh._ Audrey nodded slowly in understanding. Halloway probably thought she was making up the whole dead brother thing to get out of training and wanted to report her for it. She decided against voicing that - judging by the uncomfortable look on Halloway's face, Robards had done a brilliant job of setting him straight.

"Thank you for your condolences," Audrey repeated quietly.

Halloway's lips set themselves into a line - Audrey assumed it was supposed to resemble a smile - and returned to shuffling his papers.

As people started to file into the classroom and the lesson on poisons and antidotes commenced, Audrey finally felt a small smile break through. If anything, her Auror training would be more bearable, and a small victory like that felt nicer than she thought it would.

* * *

"You're still not okay."

Erin's gaze shifted from the magazine in front of her to Audrey. The two were enjoying a quiet evening of relaxation, and a much needed one at that. There hadn't been much relaxing during Audrey's two days off, and now that she was back to work, it only seemed fitting to add a bit of normalcy to their life. So, the two flatmates decided to lounge on the couch in a nice silence - Erin with her racing broom catalogue and Audrey with a history book.

However, Audrey could tell that Erin was not relaxed in the slightest. Aside from the fact that she was clenching her catalogue with inhuman strength, Audrey could also hear her teeth grinding from time to time.

"I'm fine," Erin replied, although it sounded very defensive.

"I'm sure you are," Audrey agreed, her tone slightly sarcastic. "Forgot that teeth grinding translated into 'perfectly stellar.' Do go on."

Erin rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Well, you can't exactly blame me, can you?" she grumbled as she returned to her magazine. "Told him and not me. Bloody ridiculous, I tell you."

Audrey frowned in confusion. "Told who?" she asked carefully. _What in Merlin's name is she talking about?_ Audrey wondered.

Erin looked up with wide eyes and mouth agape. "I - uh... no one. I was just being silly."

Something was definitely up. "Erin," Audrey started as she tried her hardest to stay calm. "Told who?" she repeated slowly.

Erin winced before sighing in defeat and muttering, "Percy."

Now it was Audrey's turn to look shocked. "How did you find out about that?" she asked in disbelief.

Erin scowled at Audrey. "You really should give me more credit," she stated. After a short pause, she added, "He came over to talk to you while you were in Hogsmeade. Oh, zut! I wasn't supposed to tell you!"

"He... came over?" Audrey asked with a small frown. "Why?"

"Said he wanted to sort things out, or something," Erin muttered as she avoided Audrey's gaze.

That was a clear indicator that she knew more than she was letting on, but Audrey decided not to push it. She did suspect that Erin had a good idea of the argument that had conspired between her and Percy, anyways. It was already shocking enough that Percy had decided to come to her, since she was quite convinced that she had mucked that up beyond reparation. With this revelation, however, Audrey felt just a little more confident that she could at least go through with her apology.

"Why weren't you supposed to tell me?" Audrey asked.

Erin shrugged. "I don't know. Had his reasons, I guess," she answered vaguely. "It's not like anyone tells me anything, anyways."

Audrey couldn't help but wince at Erin's reply. It definitely tapped into her internal reservoir of guilt, although she wasn't quite sure why. "Erin, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

Erin sighed and finally met Audrey's gaze. "It's just... you have Percy, tu sais? And even though you messed things up, you still have a chance, so I just - " she cut herself off suddenly and shook her head before continuing. "C'est stupide, but I feel like I'm being replaced, d'accord?"

"Replaced?" Audrey exclaimed as she straightened out in her seat. "Are you mad? I can't replace you!"

"Vraiment? Because that's not what recent events show," Erin stated with a raised eyebrow.

That shut Audrey up pretty quickly. She had never thought that Erin would feel replaced, and Audrey never imagined she would do that to Erin. They were practically family, and in Audrey's mind, Erin was irreplaceable. However, Erin had a point. When Audrey was faced with the startling truth of her brother's situation, she turned to the person she had only known for a few months and hadn't even told Erin a thing.

"Exactement," Erin said after a long moment of silence. She shook her head and let out a shaky sigh. "I don't mean to sound... jalouse, but it hurts. I just wish you'd at least told me _something_."

"Erin, I can't replace you. Honestly," Audrey said kindly. When Erin gave her a skeptical look, she added, "It doesn't matter if we live out our lives as single cat ladies or both end up getting married, because you are still my sister. Besides, there will always be certain things that I can only tell you about."

"Yeah? Like what?" Erin asked with a slight smile.

"Like sex, you bint," Audrey replied with a grin. "Come on, use that head of yours."

That got a laugh out of Erin. "Okay, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, but you can't really blame me," she said.

"No, I can't," Audrey agreed. "I know I messed up with... everything that's happened lately. But trust me, Erin - you'll always be important to me."

Erin smiled gratefully and quietly said, "Merci. Although I am a bit happy that you opened up to Percy so easily. Kind of shows me that you're changing for the better."

"Lots of good that did me," Audrey grumbled.

"Yeah, it did!" Erin exclaimed. "You learned how to trust, for Merlin's sake. Sure, you messed it up a bit near the end, but you did a bang-up job up to that point, and no one just goes - poof! All changed! It takes time."

"I guess so," Audrey said with a nod. "I wish I could fix it somehow, honestly."

"You can," Erin stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the world. "Go over to his flat and apologize. You're a bloody adult, Audrey."

" _You_ think I should go to him?" Audrey asked skeptically.

"Yes, I do," Erin replied. "I might still feel a bit hurt about you keeping me out of the loop, but I don't own you, now do I? And like I said: he helped you for the better. Maybe you did the same for him."

Audrey bit her lip nervously as her mind weighed out the pros and cons of going to see Percy in that moment. It was certainly a rash, spur-of-the-moment decision. She didn't have a well-structured and thought-out apology in the slightest. It simply wasn't something that Audrey Callaghan would do.

But that was sort of the point, wasn't it? She was trying to break out of her old, secretive habits. Audrey wanted to learn how to trust people and how to be selfless.

"I think I have an apology to make."

* * *

Percy entered his flat with a tired sigh. Work had been relentlessly tiring, although he should have seen that coming. Being promoted to Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Transportation wasn't supposed to be a downgrade in difficulty. It wasn't a department that he had ever considered working in before, but now that he was there, he found that he was enjoying it. It kept Percy on his toes and it certainly wasn't dull.

As he hung his coat, Percy heard the familiar tapping of an owl's beak on the window. He opened the window to let the bird in, a little surprised to not recognize it as a Ministry owl or Errol. However, as he sam Ginny's name in the sender address, he soon realized it was a Hogwarts owl.

Percy tore open the envelope and pulled out the parchment. Ginny always sent rather entertaining letters and he as happy that she had at least forgiven him enough to write to him while she was at Hogwarts.

 _Dearest Percy,_

 _Let me tell you something about the chain of gossip. Telling Oliver Wood anything is as good as screaming it from the rooftop of Gringotts. Why, you ask? Because Oliver Wood will then proceed to go out with his Quidditch Cup-winning team, get pissed, and tell everyone your secrets. Namely, one Angie Johnson, who owled to confirm whether this was the same Percy Weasley, by the way._

Percy paused. This was most certainly not one of Ginny's usual letters and he felt an uncertain feeling settle in the put of his stomach. He considered burning the letter right then and there. After all, ignorance was bliss. Percy tried to think optimistically, though. Perhaps Oliver had told them of his promotion.

 _Unfortunately, I could not confirm that because YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU SLEPT WITH AUDREY. You have fantastic taste in women, by the way. That's changed considerably, in my humble opinion._

Percy scratched out the mental note of remaining friends with Oliver and replaced it with one to kill him. Honestly, he had no restraint.

 _I also heard that you both royally messed up on the whole relationship thing, so I suppose I should say something loving and encouraging - being your sister and all._

 _Well, you know how Mum always kept sending you Christmas sweaters, even if you sent them back? Whatever weird phase Audrey is going through, if you care for her, pull a Mum. Don't send her Christmas sweaters, of course - that's bloody ridiculous, actually. But find some way to show her that you'll be there for her no matter what. If you want to, that is._

 _Anyways, I expect payment for all of this good advice._

 _See you Easter weekend,_

 _Ginny_

Percy stared at the parchment in his hands and reread the letter a few times, letting the words sink in. He had been racking his mind for a way to show Audrey that he understood her and he didn't mind her leaning on him, but was it really as simple as Ginny was saying?

 _It worked for you, didn't it?_ a part of Percy's brain reminded. Even if it wouldn't work for Audrey, it was certainly worth a shot. He knew she was a practical person, and he would have to give her something that they had in common. Something that they shared.

 _History books!_ Percy ran to his room with a jolt and scanned his bookshelf. He briefly caught sight of the book they had first discussed - _The Evolution of Medieval Duelling_ \- and couldn't help but smile at the memory. Percy continued searching until he saw one that he had enjoyed a lot. _The Historical Progression of Spell-Making_.

Without a second thought, Percy grabbed that book off of the shelf and went to put on his coat. He had no idea what he was going to say, but it would come to him. At least he hoped it would. Giving himself a decisive nod, Percy opened his door to leave his flat.

And nearly ran into Audrey.

Percy stared back at Audrey, who was standing on his doorstep with a hand raised, in shock. He figured he was mirroring her own slack-jawed look, actually, and he had to hold on to the book in his hands a little tighter so he wouldn't drop it. Percy did not expect her to come to him - she sounded very adamant about keeping their distance. But she was certainly there.

"Look, I need you to just let me talk and then I'll be on my way, all right?" Audrey said after a long moment of shocked silence.

It took Percy a moment to process her words before he could reply, "Sure. Go ahead."

"Okay," Audrey said with a nod. "Honestly, I don't expect this to change anything, or you to forgive me, or us to go back to what we had before, but... I need to say this. And I need you to know this.

"I was wrong. Dead wrong. I got scared that I was misplacing my trust, I guess, and I tried to turn the situation around so it made me feel like I was doing the right thing, but that didn't change the fact that I was really just thinking about myself. What I regret the most, though, is that I ever doubted that I could trust you. How could I possibly think you'd let me down when you confided in me just as much as I confided in you? In retrospect, I don't even understand myself."

Audrey paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry, and thank you," she said sincerely. "Thank you because... I would have never realized any of this if it wasn't for you."

She gave a small nod as she finished her spiel and looked at Percy expectantly. He seemed to have a stunned look on his face, his mind probably trying to process her words. But the longer Audrey waited in silence, the less confident she felt.

After a while, she finally said, "Right, well, like I said... I'll be on my way. You have places to be, as I can see."

Audrey turned to leave, but immediately felt a hand softly gripping her wrist. She looked up at Percy and tried to maintain a blank look.

"I was going to see you," Percy said. He reached out his other hand and handed her a book. Audrey surveyed the title for a moment before looking back up at Percy with a look of confusion. He quickly added, "It's one of my favourites, and I thought you'd appreciate it."

"Why would you want to give this to me?" Audrey asked cautiously.

"Because I remembered the way your whole face lit up when you talked about history books, as well as how calming it was to just listen to you talk," he replied honestly. "I wanted you to have this because... even if things won't go back to the way they were, like you say, then I'd like you to have something to remember me by. Because I never minded being there for you."

Audrey nodded slowly as she carefully took the book from Percy. She kept her eyes trained on the cover instead of meeting his eyes. She remembered that evening, as well. It was the first time that they realized how much they had in common and how wrong they had been about each other. It was the first time that Audrey trusted Percy.

"You know, it's not necessarily a bad thing if we don't go back to what we had before," Percy stated suddenly.

Audrey looked up at him with a confused frown. "How do you figure that?" she asked as she was starting to notice that his hand was still holding on comfortably to her wrist.

"Things don't have to be the same to be good," he said. Then, he smiled lightly and added, "You know, I've heard of this great tea shop in Diagon Alley. I think it's a brilliant place to discuss literature. Wouldn't you say the same?"

A smile slowly graced Audrey's features as she realized what Percy was hinting at. Maybe they couldn't pick up from where they had left off, but nothing was keeping them from having a fresh start. Getting to know each other again. Cleaning the slates.

"I think I've heard of this tea shop, and I would most certainly say the same," Audrey replied.

Percy's smile widened as he stepped out of his flat and closed the door behind him. He shifted his hand so he was holding Audrey's as he asked, "Would you like to lead the way then?"

Audrey simply nodded in reply and the two made their way out of the apartment building.

And, just like that icy day in January, a woman trying to make amends and a man seeking good company poured their hearts out to each other over a warm cup of tea.

* * *

 **First of all, I am thrilled that I finished this up before school started up again.**

 **Second of all, I'm not quite sure if some of you expected it to end here, but I chose to conclude like this because 1) I'm a big fan of Freytag's pyramid, 2) Everything after this is pretty much history, and 3) I really wanted to tie the ending back to that evening in the tea shop.**

 **So yes, that's the tale of Percy and Audrey! Thank you so much for reading, and I am eternally grateful for all of those that have reviewed and helped me perfect this story. Big thanks especially to: Summer Leigh Wind, ChatterChick, nymphxdora, The Lady Arturia, and Nightmare Prince!**

 **Until the next story... :)**


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